Russian TV presenter's on-air proposal

As marriage proposals go, you don't get to see many on live TV, especially when the proposal is being done by the presenter himself and on a channel where romantic stories are highly unlikely.

But on Friday, a Russian TV host decided, due to there not being much news to report, he would propose to his girlfriend knowing she was watching him on the show.

News anchor Denis Kochanov, presenter at Zvezda TV, got up from his desk and walked across the studio floor before facing the camera and pulling out a red box from his pocket.

He then got down on one knee before saying: "As there is a lack of good news I'd like to add one myself."

He took out an engagement ring from his pocket and showed it to the camera, asking:

"Margarita Stepanova, will you marry me? I will wait for your answer and hope you say yes."

Mr Kochanov then swiftly exited the shot as the credits rolled and the camera panned out.

Mr Kochanov's girlfriend said yes, as Zvezda TV confirmed on VKontakte, the popular Russian social network.

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But there was a mixed response to the TV proposal, leaving those who had tuned in for the latest military news rather confused over what they had just witnessed. "News is for news not for cute things." posted one viewer in reply to the announcement.

Zvezda news is controlled by Russia's Ministry of Defence. It has a developed a reputation of being a staunchly militarist, anti-western channel, promoting Kremlin-inspired patriotic values.

It is broadcast all across Russia and last year it had an estimated daily reach of about 11 million people in 2016.

While much of the news on the channel is unlikely to leave the viewer with a warm and fuzzy feeling, Mr Kochanov's romantic gesture clearly did. Most viewers took to social media to wish the couple "Love and concord" ("Sovet da Lyubov," in Russian), a typical saying for newlyweds in Russia.

Others said they respected the anchorman for his bold move and encouraged the girl to agree to his proposal.

By the BBC's UGC and Social News team, with additional reporting by Yaroslava Kiryukhina, BBC Monitoring