Balaklava is a knitted stocking hat with a slit for the eyes and nose, which was originally used to protect against adverse external conditions (frost, sandstorms, etc.). However, in our time, modernized balaclavas are more often worn by those who have a reason to hide their faces. Members of the female punk group Pussy Riot had such an excuse, and after the trial began against them, a hat with a slit became a symbol of protest against bringing girls to criminal responsibility.
The feminist punk rock band Pussy Riot emerged in 2011 and became famous for their public events, which were organized in a rather provocative format each time. For example, girls in balaclavas performed their works on the roof of a trolleybus, on scaffolding, in the Moscow metro, etc. In March 2012, three participants in the next action - a "punk prayer" in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior - were arrested. If we consider the resonance that the trial of Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alekhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich received as a success, then the promotion of the group is more than successful - even Madonna speaks about Pussy Riot at the time of the verdict. And the protesters against the verdict prepared a special action for the day of its announcement - they put balaclavas on several monuments.
On August 17, 2012, supporters of the group, whose name in Russian sounds like Vagina Riot, put on yellow hats with slots on the monument to Alexander Pushkin and Natalya Goncharova on Old Arbat. Participated in the fight against the arbitrariness of the authorities and monuments to Mikhail Lomonosov near Moscow State University - he got a green balaclava - and Abai Kunanbaev on Chistoprudny Boulevard (orange). And the bronze partisans at the Belorusskaya-Koltsevaya metro station did not manage to do this. The activist who was putting on balaclavas, together with the photographers who were supposed to capture the result, were detained and handed over to the police by some non-advanced passengers. Of course, all these activities of Pussy Riot supporters were covered on the Internet and resonated with supporters both in Russia and abroad. For example, in Sofia, Bulgaria, colored stockings were pulled over the heads of the soldiers of the monument to the soldiers of the Soviet Army, and at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Pskov a huge inscription "Respect for Pussy Riot" appeared.
