As a dramatic gesture of protest against the Russian invasion of the Crimean Peninsula, an American anchor of Russia Today quits live on air.

Liz Wahl used to be a Washington correspondent until March 5 when she resigned from her job during a live broadcast on the news channel which is owned by Vladimir Putin's government. She said that she was going to resign right after she finished the broadcast. She apparently took the decision of resigning from the channel as she did not accept the fact that the TV station was backing Mr Putin on his military invasion of Ukraine.

Ms Wahl described herself as a "Filipina-Hungarian-American", New York Daily News reported. She said that she had faced challenges both "ethical and moral" while working as a reporter for the channel. Ms Wahl referred to one of her colleagues while she read from an apparently prepared speech. She referred to Abby Martin's statement earlier on Tuesday March 4.

The "International Headlines" host decided to speak "from her heart" just before finishing her usual broadcast. Ms Martin called the Russian intervention of Crimea "wrong". She spoke of her feeling for the people of Ukraine as they were the ones suffering the most due to the muscle game among countries internationally. Ms Wahl called Ms Martin "my girl" as she tweeted about the spectacular "off-message" by the anchor.

My girl @AbbyMartin: Russia Today Host Abby Martin Goes Spectacularly Off-Message In #Ukraine Broadcast http://t.co/n8A2LPIFX4

— Liz Wahl (@lizwahl) March 4, 2014

Ms Wahl informed that her father was a veteran who had grown up in the U.S. Her partner happens to be a military physician who has the first-hand account of the prices people pay for that country. She went on to make a strong statement as she said that she could not be a part of a network funded by the Russian government while it continued to whitewash Mr Putin's actions.

Interestingly, RT allowed Ms Wahl to maintain a resolute eye contact with the audience for five seconds after her emphatic statement against the channel before cutting to a commercial break.

Later in a March 19 post, TruthDig claimed that the entire on-air resignation was "stage managed".