An American presenter for Russian news channel Russia Today has resigned live on air. Liz Wahl has said she no longer feels comfortable with effectively working for the Russian government as Putin’s army advances into Ukraine: ‘I cannot be part of a network funded by the Russian Government that whitewashes the actions of Putin.'
Russia Today has responded to her resignation with perhaps almost as little diplomacy as Putin’s been exercising in Ukraine, saying that it was ‘nothing more than a self-promotional stunt’. And the whole thing's become a war of words, with Wahl hitting back: ‘In order to succeed there you don’t question. It actually makes me feel sick that I worked there. It’s not a sound news organization, not when your agenda is making America look bad.’
Ok, we had you until that last bit, Abby.
Anyway, she’s not the only newscaster from *Russia Today *to be making headlines. The resignation comes days after Liz’s colleague, Abby Martin, 29, made headlines for going off-script on-air.
Despite not knowing much about WTF is going on in Crimea, Abby, who is also American, said that ‘military intervention is never the answer’. Bosses at Russia Today released a statement saying that if she really wanted to wise up on the situation in the Crimea, she could go there: ‘Ms. Martin…does not possess a deep knowledge of reality of the situation in Crimea. As such we’ll be sending her to Crimea to give her an opportunity to make up her own mind from the epicentre of the story.’
Abby later tweeted: ‘I am not going to Crimea despite the statement RT has made.’ She later explained, though, that she will stay with Russia Today as she is against ALL military intervention, including Obama’s, and that though she doesn't agree with her bosses, she'll be sticking about. That's if they keep her...
World leaders are meeting in Paris to discuss what's been going on in Ukraine, how Russia's intervention can be halted, and, as you might have noticed on social media, David Cameron looked very stern on the phone while speaking to Barack Obama about Ukraine. The pair agreed that Britain and the US 'should stand united in their condemnation of Russia's actions'. The rest of the world agreed that Cameron needs to leave Twitter.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.