Two journalists working for a pro-Kremlin news site in Russia flooded the site with anti-war articles and criticism of Vladimir Putin on a key day of the national holiday.
Dozens of articles – including a description of Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “pathetic paranoid dictator” – appeared on Lenta.ru on Monday.
They were published by journalists Egor Polyakov and Alexandra Miroshnikova to coincide with Victory Day, when Russia celebrates the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany.
The articles, which journalists say are over 40, are titled “Russia Completely Destroys Mariupol” and “The Russian Army Turns Out to be an Army of Thieves and Robbers.”
Another was simply titled, “Zelensky turned out to be cooler than Putin.”
The couple also posted a letter on the website urging Russians to stand up to Putin.
It read: “Do not be afraid! Do not be quiet! Fight back! You are not alone, we are many! The future is ours! ”
Screenshot of the Lenta.ru website, taken on Monday morning (Photo: web.archive.org)
Polyakov, 30, said he felt “he should do it today”.
“We wanted to remind everyone what our grandfathers really fought for on this beautiful Victory Day – for peace,” he told The Guardian.
Mr Putin has used his annual Victory Day speech to justify his invasion of Ukraine, which he has repeatedly described as an attempt to liberate Ukraine from neo-Nazi forces.
“Victory Day is not about that,” Mr Polyakov said. “Ordinary people are dying, peaceful women and children are dying in Ukraine. Given the rhetoric we have seen, this will not stop. We could no longer accept that. That was the only right thing we could do. “
The couple could face jail for the act, with Russia recently passing a new law providing for up to 15 years in prison for those who spread “false” information about her military.
Russia has restricted access to foreign and independent media in an attempt to prevent citizens from reading about the atrocities in Ukraine.
But Mr Polyakov said he was ready to take the risk.
“Of course I’m scared. I’m not ashamed to admit it, “he said. “But I knew what I was doing and what the consequences might be.
The articles have since been removed, but can be viewed in a web archive.
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This happened when Russian state television channels were hacked to show messages telling viewers that their hands were “covered in blood” because of the war in Ukraine.
The announcements came as millions tuned in to watch the annual Victory Day parade.
The names of all Russian television stations have been changed to read “blood is on your hands” – including the Kremlin’s main propaganda channel, Russia One.
They join a number of acts of disobedience by Russians who oppose the war.
In March, after another Russian journalist raised a live anti-war sign on state television.
Marina Ovsyanikova, editor of Russia’s First Channel, rushed to the set of one of Russia’s most popular news programs on Monday with a banner.
According to her lawyer, she later disappeared briefly.
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