IT IS without doubt that Russian TV journalist Marina Ovsyannikova, who protested the Ukrainian war on Russian TV, is the most heroic person of our time.

Marina ran onto the set of live Russian news television – controlled by the Kremlin, holding up an anti-war sign that read ‘No war, stop the war, don’t believe the propaganda, they are lying to you here.’

This selfless maybe ‘foolish’ brave behaviour reminds me of such other courage from Sophie and her brother Hans Scholl during 1942 Nazi Germany.

They belonged to a small student group in Munich called ‘The White Rose’ (Weiße Rose), who distributed leaflets telling the German people about the truth with the Nazi war.

Other Germans did the same like Otto and Elise Hampel who protested against Nazism in Berlin. They wrote postcards denouncing Hitler’s government and left them in public places around the city.

In both cases and more, all were caught and beheaded by guillotine - by probably spreading ‘Fake News!’ It much later led me to believe that not all Germans were Nazis – most were too frightened to speak out whilst a few brave cost them their lives.

Russia is much the same today as back then only this time we have far better technology to get the truth out without printing leaflets or postcards.

I seriously believe that not all Russians believe in Putin or his war on Ukraine, but like back then in Nazi Germany, they are too afraid to admit it let alone speak out.

Marina Ovsyannikova did and I salute her for her courage.

This madness of Putin and his inner circle who not only now have a long history of their past and maybe future hostilities – are even threatening World War Three with nuclear weapons.

The West can do all they can to prevent such with sanctions and providing support but to my mind the only people who can stop this are the Russian people themselves and people like Marina Ovsyannikova and all those other brave protesters facing years in prison are trying to do just that. The way to preserve peace is to topple Putin and that is only down to the decent Russian people.

CHRISTINE PETERS

Wellington Road, Bournemouth