Russian TV Protester Quits Channel, Turns Down Asylum Offer

Ukraine War: The Russian TV protester said she would not take up the French President's asylum offer and would stay in Russia.

A Russian editor who protested Moscow's military action in Ukraine during a state TV news broadcast said Thursday she is quitting her job but not accepting France's asylum offer, calling herself "a patriot".

Marina Ovsyannikova, an editor at Channel One television, barged onto the set of its flagship Vremya (Time) evening news on Monday, holding a poster reading "No War."

She was detained and a Moscow court rapidly fined her 30,000 rubles (260 euros). But despite being freed she could face further prosecution, risking years in prison under draconian new laws.

She told France 24 television from Moscow on Thursday that she had "handed in all the documents" for her resignation from Channel One. "It's a legal procedure," she said.