According to Marina Ovsyannikova’s lawyer, she escaped from house detention and left Russia after being charged with distributing “false news” about the conflict in Ukraine.
The 44-year-old woman was placed under house imprisonment for two months in August as a result of a demonstration she staged in July when she stood on a river embankment next to the Kremlin and held up a sign labelling President Vladimir Putin a murderer and his army Nazis.
Ovsyannikova, who faces up to 10 years in prison on allegations of disseminating false information about the Russian army, said in an online post on October 5 that she had escaped house arrest because she lacked a case to answer. Since then, nobody knows where she has been.
Marina Ovsyannikova is now “under the protection of a European state”, her lawyer informed. Her lawyer declined to say anything further as “it may turn out to be a problem for her”, Sky News reported.
Following the demonstration, Marina Ovsyannikova resigned from her position and started organising anti-war demonstrations. For breaking the legislation regarding protests, she was fined 30,000 roubles.
