Marina Ovsiannikova nevertheless still risks criminal prosecution punishable by heavy prison sentences, under the terms of a recent law repressing all “false information” on the Russian army.

The 43-year-old woman made a name for herself by bursting live Monday night during Russia's most-watched newscast, on the Pervy Kanal channel, where she is a producer, with a sign criticizing Moscow's military operation in Ukraine and denouncing the "propaganda" of the government-controlled media.

Images of this gesture have gone around the world, many Internet users hailing an act of "extraordinary courage", in a context of repression of any critical voice in Russia.

On Tuesday, a Moscow court found her guilty of committing an "administrative offence" and ordered her to pay a fine of 30,000 rubles (about 250 euros at the current rate), according to an AFP journalist present in the room.

"Very difficult"

After the hearing, during which she refused to admit her guilt, Ms. Ovsiannikova said she wanted to "rest" after this "very difficult" ordeal.

"These are very difficult days in my life, I spent almost two days without sleep, the interrogation lasted 14 hours," she said in a brief statement to the press.

"I didn't have the right to speak with my relatives, nor had access to legal assistance, and that's why I was in a very difficult position," she added.

"Today I have to rest."

In fact, the hardest could still be to come for the new muse of Russian opponents to Moscow's military operation in Ukraine.

Tuesday's hearing was not directly devoted to Ms. Ovsiannikova's action on Pervy Kanal, but to a video broadcast in parallel on the internet in which she denounced the entry of Russian troops into Ukraine.

Her lawyer told AFP that she feared that she would be tried for publishing "false information" about the Russian army, a crime punishable by a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.

The mere use of the word "war" by media or individuals to describe Russian intervention in Ukraine is liable to prosecution, with the Kremlin and its media using the term "special military operation".

Solidarity

A sign that Ms. Ovsiannikova's protest action displeased the top of power, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denounced an act of "hooliganism" on Tuesday.

But, abroad, testimonies of support have multiplied.

"We stand in solidarity with Russian journalist Marina Ovsyannikova who is a victim of Russia's recent abusive media law," International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Secretary General Anthony Bellanger said on Tuesday.

In Brussels, a spokesman for EU diplomacy chief Josep Borrell hailed her gesture, saying she had "taken a courageous moral stance and dared to oppose the Kremlin's lies and propaganda live on a state-controlled television channel".

Ms. Ovsiannikova's action is all the more notable as it is increasingly difficult for Russians to express their opposition.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in Moscow on December 23 NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA AFP/Archives

Since the start of the offensive in Ukraine on February 24, some 15,000 demonstrators have been arrested across Russia, according to the NGO OVD-info.

In a video recorded before her sudden appearance in front of the cameras, Ms Ovsiannikova explains her refusal to see Russia and Ukraine as enemies because her father is Ukrainian and her mother Russian.

“Unfortunately, I worked for Pervy Kanal for the past few years, doing propaganda for the Kremlin,” she adds.

"I'm very ashamed of it today."

© 2022 AFP