Kevin Paffrath, known as Meet Kevin on YouTube, is offering 1 million rubles to cover the fines of a Russian TV editor who interrupted her network’s broadcast with an anti-war message in protest of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
“I will gladly send her a million rubles, which sounds like a lot, but it’s, like, $10,000 right now,” the YouTuber, who boasts more than 1 million subscribers, told Fox Business.
Marina Ovsyannikova of Channel One, a state-owned Russian news network, held a sign behind the anchor over the weekend, which read, “Stop the war! Don’t believe propaganda! They’re lying to you here!”
Subsequently, she was slapped with a fine of 30,000 rubles on a charge of calling for unsanctioned protests. Ovsyannikova also faces time in prison on more serious charges.
‘LYING TO YOU’: RUSSIAN TV EMPLOYEE INTERRUPTS NEWS BROADCAST WITH ANTI-WAR SIGN
“That’s the kind of bravery that we should be encouraging,” Paffrath said of the stunt.
“It’s what we need to help wake up that middle and older age group in Russia that’s brainwashed by the Russian media, who actually think that this is some form of liberation for Ukrainians,” he said.
“Really this is just Putin being a man-child, swinging his saber and killing innocent people to get his sort of North and South Korean Demilitarized Zone,” the YouTuber added.
“It’s disgusting, and this war has to end,” he concluded.
In a video shared on social media, Ovsyannikova can be seen running on set behind the anchor before the network quickly cuts to different footage.
Apparently, a woman just ran onto the stage during a Russian state television news broadcast with a sign that said, “Stop the war! Don’t believe propaganda! They’re lying to you here!” pic.twitter.com/nn5XWsh4Wn
— Kevin Rothrock (@KevinRothrock) March 14, 2022
In a video that appeared to have been filmed before the incident, Ovsyannikova said her father is Ukrainian and expressed shame for parroting Kremlin propaganda.
Marina Ovsyannikova, the woman who ran onto a live state TV news broadcast, even recorded a message beforehand. In it, she says her father is Ukrainian. She calls for anti-war protests, says she’s ashamed about working for Kremlin propaganda, and she denounces the war absolutely. pic.twitter.com/nOpUY9bH74
— Kevin Rothrock (@KevinRothrock) March 14, 2022
“I’ve spent many of the last few years working for Channel One, doing Kremlin propaganda, and I’m deeply ashamed of this — ashamed that I allowed lies to come from the TV screen,” she said, according to a translation.
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“It’s in our power alone to stop all this madness. Go protest. Don’t be afraid of anything. They can’t lock us all away,” she said.
