The story of Marina Ovsyannikova: Part 2

Brut America

Episode 2: Escape from Russia  After she called out the Russian war on live TV, Marina Ovsyannikova tried to flee Russia with her 11-year-old daughter. This is the story of her escape.

Transcript

00:00She protested the war in Ukraine live on Russian state television

00:03before fleeing her country and seeking asylum in France to avoid prison time.

00:08This is the story of journalist Marina Ovsanikova.

00:22It's July 15, 2022 in Moscow near the Kremlin.

00:27Marina Ovsanikova is protesting alone.

00:30Three bloody dolls lay next to her to symbolize the massacre of Ukrainian children.

00:46After her stunt on live television,

00:48Ovsanikova leaves Russia and becomes a news correspondent

00:51for the German newspaper Die Welt for several months.

01:00Her husband works at RT, a news channel associated with the Russian state.

01:14After her act of dissidence, he cuts off all communication with her.

01:18Marina Ovsanikova risks losing custody of her almost adult son

01:21and of her daughter who was only 11 at the time.

01:30Putin is a murderer.

01:41His soldiers are fascists.

01:43352 children are dead.

01:45This is what was written on Marina's banner when she stood near the Kremlin.

01:49The journalist is once again arrested and placed in jail.

02:11Marina Ovsanikova is on house arrest with an electronic ankle monitor

02:16as she awaits her trial.

02:17She faces up to 10 years in prison.

02:19Eventually her daughter ends up joining her.

02:22Together, they decide to flee.

02:24launched diplomatic measures to offer protection.

02:27We made sure that this promise would be kept.

02:29We coordinated the operation.

02:31It was so dramatic because they took my daughter away from me.

02:35She was locked up in my husband's apartment.

02:38I was not allowed to talk to her, to see her.

02:41My lawyer told me to run, but I couldn't run without my daughter.

02:45Eventually, her daughter ends up joining her.

02:48Together, they decide to flee.

02:50But in order to do so, they have to fool the authorities

02:53and their own family.

03:23We used seven cars, changing them throughout Russia,

03:27constantly tracking them down.

03:28There was a real chain of solidarity.

03:31Some people took risks,

03:34showed incredible courage,

03:37and will never be discreet.

03:39It didn't go according to plan.

03:40Our last car got stuck in the mud,

03:42just a few kilometers from the border.

03:44Marina had to get out of the car with her daughter,

03:48with suitcases.

03:49She was advised to leave with a backpack,

03:51but she had wheelchair suitcases.

03:53We jumped into the open field.

03:54It was pitch black around us.

03:57We hid from the headlights of the tractors

04:00and the border guards' cars that were driving at that moment.

04:05From this office, at Reporters Without Borders,

04:08we followed all the steps of this exfiltration.

04:11We were wondering if it was going to work.

04:14Cell phone calls, he was shouting,

04:16when these cars were approaching the border guards,

04:18he was shouting, put your head down.

04:20We were just lying on our backs,

04:22hiding in black jackets,

04:23so that we wouldn't be seen on the barren, black soil.

04:26There was no telephone network,

04:29so they zigzagged on unknown grounds.

04:35Marina Ovsanikova and her daughter

04:36finally reached the border and escaped Russia.

04:40They have since taken refuge in France in a secret location.

04:43Since Putin took power around 2000,

04:46nearly 40 journalists have been killed in Russia.

04:49Forty.

04:49When you see the number of Russian oligarchs

04:51or opponents who have fallen through the windows,

04:53who have been miserable,

04:54of course, it makes me worry.

04:56Marina also says that her friends always make fun of her.

05:00Do you prefer the Novichok, the Polonium,

05:03or a car accident?

05:04What, without having a little anxiety?

05:10I am 100% sure that I would do it again,

05:14because in these conditions you couldn't be silent.

05:17In these conditions, silence was simply a crime.

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