France investigates: Was Kremlin critic Marina Ovsyannikova poisoned?

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The Paris prosecutor’s office is investigating a possible poison attack on Russian TV journalist Marina Ovshannikova (45), who became known for her criticism of the war in Ukraine.

The journalist called the emergency number on Thursday afternoon because she suddenly felt bad after leaving her house and feared that she was being poisoned, the Public Prosecution Service said on Friday. She asked to be taken to a hospital. The first investigations and checks by the police are underway.

“We were afraid of Marina Ovsyannikova,” said Christophe Deloire, secretary general of Reporters Without Borders. The hypothesis of poisoning was discussed and not ruled out. However, he contradicted the prosecutor’s account, according to which the journalist herself had said she was afraid of poisoning. He pointed out that “we were with her all day.” The organization expelled the television journalist from Russia shortly before a trial against her began about a year ago.

Eight and a half years in a prison camp

A week and a half ago, Ovsyannikova was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison in a prison camp in Russia. A Moscow court found her guilty in absentia of spreading false reports about the Russian army. The editor, then still employed by Russian state television, caused a stir shortly after the start of the war against Ukraine in March 2022 when she jumped into view in the middle of a live news broadcast and held up a protest poster.

After the action, Ovshannikova, now 45, worked for the German newspaper ‘Welt’, among other things, but then returned to Russia and protested against the war again. In October 2022, her lawyer announced that she had finally left her home country for Europe. (SDA)

Source: Blick