At least three Russian news anchors have resigned from state-run channels since Channel One employee Marina Ovsyannikova’s on-air protest against Putin’s war on Ukraine on Monday night, with more Russian TV personalities currently on “holiday.”
Zhanna Agalakova has quit her job at Channel One as Europe correspondent, according to the BBC. Two anchors at another state-run channel, NTV, have also resigned. On Tuesday, Lilia Gildeyeva, who worked for NTV since 2006 and been praised by Putin, announced she has also left the country. “At first I left, I was afraid that they wouldn’t just let me go,” she told independent Russian journalist Ilya Varlamov of Varlamov News. Vadim Glusker, who had been at the network for nearly 30 years, has also resigned.
The BBC reports rumors of journalists also leaving Russia state TV group VGTRK.
RT editor Maria Baronova was among the first to step down earlier this month, telling Fox News, “I really think we’re on the brink of a nuclear war right now. I’m not exaggerating.”
Meanwhile, one of Russia’s biggest talk show hosts, Ivan Urgant, posted a black square on his Instagram account with the message: “Fear and pain. No War.” He followed it up with a post assuring his followers, “No panic. They let me go on vacation, but I’ll take it and be back soon.”
BBC reports that Russian comedian Maxim Galkin, who is also on vacation, wrote on Instagram, “There can be no justification for war! No War!”
Ovsyannikova has been fined 30,000 rubles for her protest and anti-war video, but may still face charges of violating Russia’s new rule forbidding any mention of the war that is not in line with Kremlin messaging.
