Updated on 05/09/2022 15:34
- Ironically, on the most important Russian holiday – the “Day of Victory” – two editors of a medium loyal to the Kremlin managed an anti-Putin coup.
- One justified the protest action with his conscience.
On the important Russian holiday “Victory Day”, a medium that is actually loyal to the Kremlin briefly published critical articles about the president Wladimir Putin appeared – and was deleted a little later. Two editors of the online platform Lenta.ru later claimed responsibility for the protest. Now he is probably rid of his job at Lenta, said the previous head of the economics department, Yegor Polyakov, to the critical medium Mediazona. One of the short-lived articles was entitled: “Putin must go. He has started and is waging a senseless war Russia into the abyss.”
A total of around 20 such texts were briefly published on Lenta.ru, but can now only be viewed in the web archive. All contributions began with the preliminary remark that the material was not coordinated with the management of the medium. For their protest, Polyakov and his colleague Alexandra Miroshnikova apparently exchanged the title and text of existing articles on the site.
Also read: All current information on the war in Ukraine in the live ticker
High penalties for alleged “fake news”
“The most important reason was conscience,” Polyakov justified his actions. Since independent media can no longer be called up in Russia without alternative Internet access, he and his colleague decided to make their materials accessible to the readers of his medium, said Polyakov.
Initially, nothing was known about possible legal consequences of the action. In Russia, according to a relatively new law, there are high penalties for alleged “false news” about Russia’s armed forces.
The protest by the two Lenta.ru editors is reminiscent of the journalist Marina Owsjannikova, who had been loyal to the line until then, who shortly after Russia’s attack on the Ukraine had run on the main news program of Russian state television a few weeks ago with an anti-war poster. (sbi/dpa)
Because of her protest against the Ukraine war on Russian television, she was celebrated as a heroine. Now the journalist Marina Ovsyannikova fears for her life. One thing is clear, says the mother of two: “My life has changed forever.” (Teaser picture: Social Media/dpa)