Marina Ovsyannikova says she escaped pre-trial house arrest

Marina Ovsyannikova, a former Russian journalist, confirmed on Telegram Wednesday she had escaped pre-trial house arrest and fled to an unknown location.

Ovsyannikova, who had been in house arrest since August but said she is completely innocent, made headlines in March when she protested live on Russia's state-owned Channel 1 flagship news program.

Ovsyannikova posted a video to defiantly confirm her escape, wearing what appeared to be an ankle bracelet. The former editor called for Russian President Vladimir Putin to be arrested for his crimes against Ukrainian people.

According to The Washington Post, respecting employees of the Federal Penitentiary Service put a bracelet on Putin. He must be isolated from society and not me, and he should be tried for the genocide of the people of Ukraine and the fact that he destroys the male population of Russia en masse. Ovsyannikova left her job, according to The Guardian, and was arrested in August during a solo protest across the Kremlin on the Moskva River embankment, where she held a card that reads, Putin is a murderer, his soldiers are fascists. After her arrest, Ovsyannikova was put under a two-month house arrest order while awaiting trial, but escaped on Sept. 30. Ovsyannikova was charged with up to 10 years of imprisonment for the offense of discrediting Russia's military.

I consider myself completely innocent, and since my state refuses to comply with its own laws, I refuse to comply with the restraint imposed on me as of September 30th, 2022 and release myself from it, Ovsyannikova said in the video.

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What is next: Ovsyannikova's ex-husband reported her and her 11-year-old daughter missing from Russian authorities on Monday. Ovsyannikova was added to the Kremlin's most wanted list.

Ovsyannikova was due to appear at a court hearing on Wednesday, but the case was held in absentia after investigators failed to locate her, Ovsyannikova s lawyer Dmitry Zakhvatov said.

According to the Post, Igor Ovsyannikov spoke to the pro-Kremlin RT network and said that he was unaware of his ex-wife's location and his daughter's location, but that the 11-year-old is without a passport.

Marina Ovsyannikova, photo in the public domain via Flickr.