Ex-Russian state TV reporter: I quit over Ukraine war
PARIS (Reuters) – Zhanna Agalakova, till her resignation this month a journalist with Russia’s state-controlled Channel One broadcaster, mentioned on Tuesday she stop in protest on the warfare being waged by Russia in Ukraine.
Agalakova, a former Channel One newsreader who on the time of her resignation was the station’s correspondent in Paris, informed a information convention within the French capital: “Once I spoke to my bosses, I mentioned I can’t do that work any extra.”
“I left Channel One exactly as a result of the warfare began.”
She mentioned she believed Russian tv was getting used to pump out Kremlin propaganda, and that the authorities had for years been stifling unbiased media.
She mentioned she wished Russians to listen to her message, to cease permitting themselves to be “zombified” by propaganda, and begin looking for out different sources of knowledge.
Agalakova mentioned she anticipated Russian officers would dismiss her as a international agent, however she mentioned she was working for nobody, besides within the pursuits of her personal nation.
The Kremlin didn’t instantly reply to a Reuters request for touch upon Agalakova’s remarks.
Earlier this month, Marina Ovsyannikova, an editor at Channel One, burst into the station’s Moscow studio throughout a stay information bulletin to denounce the warfare in Ukraine. She mentioned she hoped her protest, for which she has since been fined, would open Russians’ eyes to state propaganda.
The warfare in Ukraine is the largest assault on a European state since World Battle Two and has resulted in 1000’s of deaths and hundreds of thousands of individuals compelled to depart their properties.
Russian President Vladimir Putin calls the warfare a “particular navy operation” to disarm Ukraine and shield it from “Nazis”. The West calls {that a} false pretext for an unprovoked warfare of aggression.
Practically 4 weeks into their invasion, Russian troops have didn’t seize any main Ukrainian metropolis and have been halted on practically all fronts, however are hammering residential districts with artillery, missiles and air strikes.
(Writing by Christian Lowe; Modifying by Raissa Kasolowsky)
