Russian female feminist punk band Pussy Riot was formed in August 2011. The themes of her songs are political events such as falsification of election results and repression of the opposition. The girls choose the most extravagant places for the performance: public transport, trolleybus roofs, shops, bars and even the roof of special detention center # 1.
The participants successfully chose a stage image that does not allow them to be confused with other musical groups. Even in cold weather for performances, girls dress in bright light dresses and colored tights. Knitted balaclavas that cover the faces emphasize the anonymity of the feminists.
On February 19, 2012, the members of the group entered the Yelokhovsky Epiphany Cathedral with a guitar and sound-amplifying equipment. There was no service in the temple, there were few people. When the feminists began to shout the words of a song dedicated to the close friendship between the Patriarch and the President of the Russian Federation, they were taken out by the guards. Two days later, on February 21, the participants tried to hold a punk prayer service at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior (there was no service at that time either). The girls got up on Solea, knelt down and began to be baptized, bowing to the ground. When the participants tried to sing, the guards took them outside the temple.
From the frames of both performances and the studio soundtrack, a video clip "Theotokos, drive Putin away" was edited and uploaded to YouTube. This recording aroused the indignation of the head of state and the Patriarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church. Three of the five participants in the punk prayer were detained - Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Ekaterina Samutsevich, Maria Alekhina. The girls were accused of hooliganism based on religious hatred.
The victims were the guard of the temple, the priest, the candle-maker and 6 parishioners. The participants apologized to the believers, whom the punk prayer could offend, but refused to plead guilty. The charge was based on the third linguistic examination, which found religious hatred in the lyrics of the song. The court did not take into account two previous examinations, which did not find such motives. The court also did not find it a mitigating circumstance that Tolokonnikova and Alekhina had young children.
All the participants of the action were sentenced to 2 years of imprisonment in a general regime colony. Feminist lawyers have begun to formalize custody of the children of Tolokonnikova and Alekhina, since there is a real threat of transferring babies to foster families.
The international human rights organization Amnesty International has recognized convicted feminists as prisoners of conscience. Both during the trial and after the verdict was passed, numerous actions in support of Pussy Riot took place in Russia and around the world. Some of them can be called barbaric. For example, in Kiev, members of the Femen movement with the help of a chainsaw knocked down a worship cross, erected in memory of the victims of Stalin's repressions, explaining this act of vandalism with the support of Pussy Riot.
On August 17, in Pskov, inscriptions of protest appeared on the wall of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. On August 25, 4 worship crosses were cut down in the Chelyabinsk and Arkhangelsk regions. On August 30, in Kazan, the bodies of two women killed with savage cruelty were found. Pussy Riot was written on the wall in blood. It is unlikely that this brutal murder was committed by a fan of the group - most likely, the killer was trying to confuse the investigation. However, it can be expected that protests against a politically motivated court decision will take the most unexpected forms.
