Members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot sentenced in absentia for “war fakes” and urinating on portrait of Vladimir Putin

Moscow’s Basmanny District Court has sentenced Pussy Riot members Maria Alyokhina, Taso Pletner, Olga Borisova, Diana Burkot and Alina Petrova in absentia to prison terms ranging from eight to 13 years, according to a report by the independent publication Mediazona. The prosecution’s case involved two counts of spreading “false information” about the Russian army.

The first involved the group’s 2022 anti-war music video “Mama, Don’t Watch TV,” which, according to the court, contained “false claims” about Russian forces killing civilians in Ukraine. Alyokhina, who received thirteen years, was named as the organizer of the video shoot. The court said Borisova, Burkot and Pletner also took part in producing the video.

The second episode concerned a 2024 protest at Munich’s Pinakothek der Moderne museum, where Pletner urinated on a portrait of Vladimir Putin. She was sentenced to 11 years in prison. (Alyokhina and Petrova also participated in the protest.)

Borisova, Burkot and Petrova were each sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison.

Pussy Riot is a Russian feminist protest and performance art collective best known for its sharp criticism of Vladimir Putin, the Russian Orthodox Church hierarchy, and Russia’s war in Ukraine. The group became internationally famous in 2012 after staging its “punk prayer” protest, titled “Mother of God, exorcise us of Putin” inside Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

Three members of the group — Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, and Ekaterina Samutsevich — were arrested and charged with “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” after the performance. In August 2012, all three were convicted. Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova were sentenced to two years in prison and served most of their terms in penal colonies. Samutsevich received a suspended sentence on appeal and was released earlier.