Russian journalist who protested Putin's war live on television may have been poisoned

French police inspect Marina Ovsyannikova’s apartment. Photo: AP

The Russian state television journalist who condemned Vladimir Putin's attack on Ukraine live may have been poisoned in France.

Marina Ovsyannikova called 911 and was hospitalized on Thursday after she suddenly became ill as she left her Paris apartment and said she suspected she had been poisoned, the Paris outlet reported. This was reported to the prosecutor's office.

The police examined her apartment and an investigation is underway, the prosecutor's office added.

Ms. Ovsyannikova, who worked for the First Russian State TV Channel, attracted international attention March 2022 after the evening news anchor appeared with a sign: “Stop the war, don’t believe the propaganda, they’re lying to you here.”

Media watchdog organization Reporters Without Borders. , who helped Ms Ovsyannikova escape Russia and settle in France, said her team had been “by her side” since she sought medical help.

The group did not have additional information about what happened.

Ms. Ovsyannikova was charged of insulting the Russian army and was fined 30,000 rubles ($270 at the time). She later staged a protest near the Kremlin in July 2022, was detained and placed under house arrest, and then fled to France with her daughter.

Earlier this month, a Moscow court sentenced her to eight and a half years of imprisonment. in absentia for spreading false information about the Russian army.

It was the latest example of Russia's crackdown on dissent, which has intensified since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly 20 months ago.

The scale of repression was unprecedented in post-Soviet Russia.