Pussy Riot vs. Putin
Quieter but never silent
Yekaterina Samuzevich (left), Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Marija Alyokhina in court in Moscow on July 20, 2021
© Natalia Kolesnikova / Getty Images
Without Putin there would be no war in Ukraine, without Putin there would be no “Pussy Riot”. But where’s the anti-Kremlin women’s punk band from Moscow when you need them more than ever?
Loud, anarchic, courageous: the musicians of “Pussy Riot” roared their anger at Putin without warning. With their garish balaclavas, they appeared on roofs, in fast-food shops or subway stations in a flash, tore normality to pieces – and disappeared as quickly as they came.
That is, if they were not arrested, as after the “punk prayer” in Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral on February 21, 2012, for which they have become world famous. Almost exactly ten years before Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich loudly demanded at the altar:
Virgin Mary, Holy Mother of God, get rid of Putin!
They were not heard.
The three women paid for their action with the hardest camp imprisonment. But although the group officially disbanded after their release, they launched further protest actions: in 2014 in the Sochi Olympic Park, where they were attacked by security forces with whips, at the 2018 World Cup or at the “birthday greeting” to President Vladimir Putin in October 2020, when the activists Attached rainbow flags to government buildings.
“Pussy Riot” is massively suppressed – and can’t be beaten down
In 2020, the authorities began to preventively rein in “Pussy Riot”. The now around ten members are regularly hindered in their work, declared foreign agents, imprisoned and sentenced to fines. Co-founder Marija Alyokhina is under house arrest at night because she called for demonstrations for the imprisoned Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny. In February 2022 she was unable to take part in an online event for persecuted artists in Karlsruhe because she had been arrested as a precaution.
The little attention that “Pussy Riot” still gets shows that the reprisals are working. But the women continue to fight unabated for human rights.
“I believe in what I do,” says Marija Alyokhina. “It might be small right now. But I think everything big started out small.”
This action shows that the impact of “Pussy Riot” is anything but small: After Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the musicians mobilized three million US dollars for aid organizations on the first day alone by donating virtual shares (NFTs) to a picture of the Ukrainian flag sold. And on February 27, 2022, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova openly said in “Rolling Stone”: “Fuck Putin. I Hope He Dies Soon.”
Pussy Riot at Festival Ceremonia 2019 in Mexico
© Medios y Media / Getty Images
“Pussy Riot” on tour
The band continues to tour the world: “Pussy Riot” will be shown in Rostock on May 13, 2022. Because Marija Alyokhina is under house arrest, she will probably not be able to attend. Current Pussy Riot videos can be found at under www.youtube.com/c/wearepussyriot.
Sources: Rolling Stone, ZDF, Wikipedia, YouTube, Baden Latest News