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Ukraine: Russian TV Journalist ‘Disappears’ After ‘No War’ Protest

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A Russian journalist, Marina Ovsyannikova, who held up a sign in protest of the war in Ukraine behind the studio presenter of Russia’s state TV Channel One, has reportedly disappeared after she was arrested by the Russian authorities.

Ovsyannikova interrupted a live broadcast Monday evening, holding up a sign with “No War” written on it, denouncing the war in Ukraine.

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According to a statement posted to the European Commission’s official Facebook page, Ovsyannikova shouted, “Stop the war. No to war,” when bursting onto the set of the country’s most-watched evening news broadcast.

“She condemned Moscow’s military action in Ukraine holding up a hand-written poster in Russian saying: ‘Don’t believe the propaganda. They’re lying to you here.’ It was signed in English: ‘Russians against the war,’” the statement read.

Sky News reports that the Kremlin has reacted to the action of the journalist, calling it “hooliganism.”

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Russia has imposed strict controls on news reporting, forbidding the use of the words “war” or “invasion” and instead referring to the conflict as a “special military operation.”

READ ALSO: Ukraine Economy Could Collapse If War Drags On, IMF Warns

According to Sky News, those who break the laws – which came into force during the invasion – face up to 15 years in prison.

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Meanwhile, an official of the European Commission has commended “brave” and “peace loving” Russian citizens for daring to speak out against Russia’s war in Ukraine.

In a video posted to the Commission’s verified Twitter handle, on Tuesday, the official said, “We applaud the courage of brave Russian citizens and peace loving Russian citizens who dare to express their opposition to this war by Putin despite all existing restrictions.

“The most recent example is the Russian TV journalist, Marina Ovsyannikova, who took a brave moral stance and dared to object Kremlin’s lies and propaganda live on air on a state-controlled TV channel.”

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While accusing the CEO of the channel as one of the chief propagandists in the war, the official noted that Ovsyannikova “was detained and has disappeared” and “her lawyers are not allowed to contact her.”

In a pre-recorded video released after her arrest, Ovsyannikova condemned the war in Ukraine and regretted being a part of Russian propaganda.

What is happening now in Ukraine is a crime, and Russia is the aggressor country. The responsibility for that aggression lies on the conscience of only one man, and that man is Vladimir Putin.

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“My father is Ukrainian, my mother is Russian. They were never enemies. The necklace on my neck is a symbol that Russia must immediately stop the fratricidal war. Our brotherly nations will then still be able to make peace.

“Sadly, during the past years I worked with Channel One, I spread the Kremlin propaganda and I am very ashamed of this. I am ashamed I allowed lies to be told on TV screens. I am ashamed I allowed Russian people to be fooled.

READ ALSO: Russia-Ukraine War: Award-winning American Journalist Killed

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“We were silent in 2014 when it all started. We did not go out to protest when the Kremlin poisoned Navalny. We simply watched this inhumane regime.

“Now the whole world has turned away from us and the next ten generations of our descendants will not wash away the shame of this fratricidal war.

“We the Russians are wise and proud; it is up to us to stop this madness. Come out to protest, do not be afraid. They cannot put all of us in jail,” she said.

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Serbia Indicts Ex-minister, 12 Others Over Train Station Tragedy

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Serbian prosecutors filed an updated indictment on Tuesday against 13 people, including a former minister, over a fatal railway station roof collapse that has triggered a wave of anti-government protests.

The prosecution said all those indicted, among them former construction minister Goran Vesic, face charges of “serious crimes against public safety” over the tragedy that killed 16 people last November.

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“The indictment proposes that the Higher Court in Novi Sad order custody for all the defendants,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

The roof collapse at the newly renovated station in Serbia’s second-largest city, Novi Sad, became a symbol of entrenched corruption and sparked almost daily protests.

READ ALSO:FG Panel Indicts AFN In Ofili’s Paris Olympics Omission

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Protesters first demanded a transparent investigation, but their calls soon escalated into demands for early elections.

The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad initially filed an indictment at the end of December, but judges returned it in April, requesting more information.

The accused were released or placed under house arrest following the decision.

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The prosecutor’s office said it had complied with the judge’s request and had now completed the supplementary investigation.

READ ALSO:NDLEA Arrests Indian Businessman, 3 Others Over Alleged Trafficking Of N3.9bn Tramadol

The prosecutor specialising in organised crime and corruption in Belgrade is leading a separate, independent investigation into the tragedy.

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That investigation is focused on 13 people, including Vesic and another former minister, Tomislav Momirovic, who headed the Construction Ministry before him.

In March, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) launched a third, separate investigation into the possible misuse of EU funds for the station’s reconstruction.

AFP

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Kazakhstan Bans Forced Marriage, Bride Kidnapping

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Kazakhstan has banned forced marriages and bride kidnappings through a law that came into effect Tuesday in the Central Asian country, where the practice persists despite new attention being paid to women’s rights.

Forcing someone to marry is now punishable by up to 10 years in prison, Kazakh police said in a statement.

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These changes are aimed at preventing forced marriages and protecting vulnerable categories of citizens, especially women and adolescents,” it added.

Bride kidnappings have also been outlawed.

REAS ALSO:What To Know About Albania’s AI Minister, Diella

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Previously, a person who voluntarily released a kidnapped person could expect to be released from criminal liability. Now this possibility has been eliminated,” the police said.

There are no reliable statistics of forced marriage cases across the country, with no separate article in the criminal code prohibiting it until now.

A Kazakh lawmaker said earlier this year that the police had received 214 such complaints over the past three years.

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The custom is also present in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan, where it mostly goes unpunished due to indifferent law enforcement and stigma surrounding whistleblowers.

READ ALSO:California Lawmakers Approve Ban On Face Masks For Authorities

The issue of women’s rights in Kazakhstan gained media attention in 2023 following the murder of a woman by her husband, a former minister, a case that shocked Kazakh society and prompted President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to react.

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“Some people hide behind so-called traditions and try to impose the practice of wife stealing. This blatant obscurantism cannot be justified,” Tokayev said last year.

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Russia Arrests Woman For Detonating Bomb On Railway

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Russia’s FSB security service said on Tuesday it had arrested a woman in her fifties accused of detonating explosives in a bid to sabotage the Trans-Siberian Railway.

The suspect was allegedly working on behalf of Ukrainian intelligence, the FSB said, in the latest incident of alleged covert activity during the countries’ conflict.

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In August 2025, following the instructions provided by the adversary, the suspect manufactured a homemade explosive device from publicly available components, placed it on the railway tracks and triggered it,” the Russian agency said.

READ ALSO:Russia Hits Ukraine With ‘Massive’ Deadly Overnight Strikes

“She recorded the moment of the explosion on her mobile phone camera and sent the footage as a report to the handler to receive a reward.”

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The statement did not name the suspect but said she was born in 1974 and carried out the alleged attack in eastern Siberia’s Zabaikalsky region.

The FSB warned Russians that it was monitoring social networks and online messenger services such as Telegram and WhatsApp for evidence of Ukrainian services recruiting Russians to carry out sabotage.

READ ALSO:Again, Russia Claims Another Village In Ukraine’s Region

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Separately, the agency told state news agency TASS that a man had been sentenced to 18 years and six months for transporting explosives on behalf of a “pro-Ukrainian” group.

A resident of the Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, had, the FSB said, established contact through the Telegram app with a banned “terrorist organisation”.

He allegedly retrieved explosives from a cache on the orders of this group before waiting for “further instructions”, according to the same source cited by TASS.

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He was jailed by a military tribunal.

AFP

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