Marina Ovsyannikova from Paris told how she fled from Russia: she changed seven cars

Former Channel One editor Marina Ovsyannikova, who broke into the evening news with a poster in March 2022, gave a press conference in Paris. During a speech to reporters, she, among other things, told how she escaped from house arrest.

Appearing in the frame Ekaterina Andreeva and a post criticizing the SVO on the social network became the basis of the administrative case against Ovsyannikova. However, in the summer of 2022, after a solo picket in the center of Moscow, a criminal case was initiated against her. The journalist was charged under an article about “fake news about the army” and placed under house arrest. At the same time, Ovsyannikova began a trial litigation with ex-husband over child custody. The eldest son said that he wanted to stay with his father, but Ovsyannikova continued to sue for custody of her daughter. In early October, she escaped from house arrest with her daughter and soon ended up in one of the neighboring countries. In October, a Russian court ruled that both the ex-editor’s 17-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter must live with their father, recalls “Kommersant”.

During a press conference, Ovsyannikova said that she did not want to leave the country, but she listened to the advice of her lawyers, who, according to her, predicted a real prison term for her. Ovsyannikova stated that she escaped from arrest “on the night from Friday to Saturday, when all Russian law enforcement officers are sitting in the country.”

“We changed seven cars,” she said, without specifying where exactly she crossed the border of the Russian Federation. “Across a plowed field, literally guided by the stars.”

Ovsyannikova said that she does not give details of her escape, so as not to create problems for the people who helped her. In turn, the host of the press conference, Secretary General of Reporters Without Borders, Christophe Deloir, assured that the escape “was not organized by any special services.”