Punk group Pussy Riot deemed ‘extremist’ organisation and banned in Russia

A Moscow court has declared feminist punk band Pussy Riot an “extremist” organisation and banned its activities in Russia, independent news outlet SOTAvision reported from outside a closed court hearing on Monday.

In September, the group members, all of whom currently live outside Russia, were sentenced in absentia to custodial terms for spreading “false information” about the Russian military.

On that occasion, prosecutors cited the video accompanying their anti-war song Mama, Don’t Watch TV, as well as their protest action at Munich’s Pinakothek der Moderne museum in April 2024, during which they chanted anti-war slogans and called Vladimir Putin a war criminal, while one group member urinated on his portrait.

Maria Alyokhina, who was one of the two group members to have been convicted and imprisoned in 2012 for performing the group’s “punk prayer” alongside fellow Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova at Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, received the longest sentence of 13 years.

Of the remaining group members, Taso Pletner was sentenced to 11 years in prison, while Olga Borisova, Alina Petrova and Diana Burkot each received eight years. Anticipating the court decision, Pussy Riot said on Sunday “These idiots have been working on this for years — since at least 2012”.