What did Pussy Wright do? Pussy Riot sentenced to five years: what it changed in Russia

Five members of the punk band Pussy Riot came to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, put on masks, ran into the solea (the raised floor in front of the altar barrier or iconostasis) and the pulpit (the place in the temple from which biblical texts are read), entry to which is prohibited, and approached the altar and held a “punk prayer” - turning on the sound amplification equipment, they began shouting insults at the clergy and believers. A video of the performance was posted on the Internet and caused a great public outcry. It was not possible to detain the girls.

Ekaterina Samutsevich also repeatedly conducted legal proceedings with her former lawyers. In 2014, the Gagarinsky Court of the capital rejected her claim for the protection of honor and dignity against former defender Nikolai Polozov for 3 million rubles. In her lawsuit, Samutsevich demanded to refute materials about Pussy Riot that were posted on a blog with a link to the American news site The Daily Beast, as well as several statements on social networks. In addition, Samutsevich repeatedly appealed to the Moscow Bar Association with statements about depriving her former defenders of their lawyer status.

The defense of the members of the punk band Pussy Riot appealed to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) with a complaint of violation of four articles of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The defense of the members of the punk band in their complaint asks that the Russian government be found guilty of violating freedom of expression, the right to liberty and security of person, the prohibition of torture and the right to a fair trial (Articles 10, 5, 3 and 6 of the European Convention). Pussy Riot group members Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, as part of their complaint to the ECHR: 120 thousand each for moral damage and 10 thousand for legal expenses.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

Read the latest news from Russia and the world in the All news section on Newsland, participate in discussions, receive up-to-date and reliable information on the topic All news on Newsland.

16:37 14.11.2019

Russia complied with the decision of the ECHR and paid 37 thousand euros to the participants of the punk prayer service in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior prayer service in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Mediazona publisher and Pussy Riot member Pyotr Verzilov told the Ekho Moskvy radio station about this. The amount of compensation to Maria Alekhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova was 16 thousand euros each, Ekaterina Samutsevich - 5 thousand

16:50 13.11.2019

Russia has complied with the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and paid 37 thousand euros to members of the group Pussy Riot for violation of their rights during the criminal proceedings regarding a punk prayer service in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Mediazona publisher and Pussy Riot member Pyotr Verzilov told the Ekho Moskvy radio station about this. The amount of compensation to Maria Alekhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova amounted to 16 thousand euros each, and to Ekaterina Samutsevich - 5 thousand euros. According to Verzilov, most of these funds went to the development of the Mediazona publication. The ECtHR ruled

11:43 09.05.2019

Pussy Riot group member Veronika Nikulshina and four of her friends, who were detained on the afternoon of May 8, were left in the capital’s Tverskaya police station until the morning without explanation, writes Mediazona. All the guys, including Nikulshina, are left overnight in the department, despite the fact that they were not shown any documents. Law enforcement officials said they would work with them tomorrow, publisher and group member Pyotr Verzilov told Interfax. It was reported the day before that a dozen police officers came to the home of the activist’s friends a few hours after

04:22 19.10.2018

The Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation appealed the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to pay more than 37 thousand euros in favor of members of the punk group Pussy Riot, RIA Novosti reports with reference to the press service of the ministry. The ruling of the European Court of Human Rights “Alekhina and others against Russia”, issued in July 2018, was appealed by the Russian authorities in accordance with the established procedure, the ministry informs. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled that the Russian Federation violated a number of provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights in

04:13 13.09.2018

Member of the Pussy Riot group, publisher of Mediazona Pyotr Verzilov, on the evening of September 11, ended up in the hospital toxicology department in serious condition. Medusa writes about this. Verzilova’s girlfriend, group member Veronika Nikulshina, told the publication that he felt ill shortly after the court hearing where the administrative case against her was heard: the man began to lose his sight, speech and ability to move. When the ambulance arrived, he answered all questions that “no, I didn’t eat anything, I didn’t take any substances. He was getting faster and faster

20:11 18.07.2018

All members of the Pussy Riot group who ran onto the field during the final match of the 2018 World Cup received 15 days of arrest and a ban on attending sporting events for three years. The action was called Policeman Enters the Game and was dedicated to the memory of the poet Dmitry Prigov, who died 11 years ago. Pass to Putin: what the art community is saying about the Pussy Riot action Freedom, equality, love: how Pussy Riot was tried for an action at the 2018 World Cup Participants in the action demanded the release of all political prisoners, not to be imprisoned for liking on social networks, and an end to arrests on

18:18 16.07.2018

The editor-in-chief of the Ekho Moskvy radio station, Alexey Venediktov, criticized a police officer who, during the interrogation of Pussy Riot who ran onto the field in the World Cup final, expressed regret that repressions had stopped in Russia. The journalist shared his opinion about this incident on the Telegram channel. The colonel, shouting and screaming at the violators who ran onto the football field of the 2018 World Cup in Luzhniki, “Creature!” Handcuffs for me here on both and a crown “It’s a pity that it’s not 1937, I didn’t understand that he was screaming and screaming,” wrote Venediktov. In glorious 1937

04:21 11.07.2018

The Moscow Magistrate's Court fined Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina 400,000 rubles for evading compulsory labor, which was assigned to her for protests near the FSB building. Mediazona reported this. Bailiffs detained her at the exit from the Izmailovsky court, where a lawsuit filed against the activist by the administration of a colony in the Nizhny Novgorod region was being considered. It is reported that two reports were drawn up against the activist under the article on evasion of administrative punishment (20.25 of the Administrative Code) and for each she was fined 200,000 rubles. Let us remind you that in

17:53 04.04.2018

Nizhny Novgorod correctional colony No. 2 went to court against Pussy Riot member Maria Alekhina and the publication Sobesednik, who, in their opinion, are spoiling the reputation of the institution. According to the Mediazon publication, the penitentiary institution did not like the part of the publication in Sobesednik, where Alekhina talks about a contract for sewing medical clothes, prisoner of IK No. 2 with Avangard-special clothing at allegedly reduced prices. The plaintiff also considers the confession of a Pussy Riot member about the difficult working conditions and meager wages of prisoners to be a lie. The colony asks to recognize this

13:42 27.02.2018

Cossacks from the Crimean Self-Defense kicked Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina and local activist Alexei Efremov out of the cafe and took away their headdress. After this, the connection was interrupted and where they are is unknown, journalist Anton Naumlyuk told Mediazona. As Alyokhina reported, several Cossacks entered the cafe, called them enemies of the people and called them a Kubanka hat on the grounds that young people allegedly do not have the right to wear it. The activist managed to send a video in which a man insulted activists. Alekhina also sent an audio recording in which you can hear

12:24 07.08.2017

Members of the Pussy Riot group Maria Alyokhina and Oleg Sofeev, as well as one of the creators of the Pussy Riot Theater project Olga Borisova, hung a banner with the inscription Free Sentsov on a bridge in Yakutsk not far from the colony where Ukrainian director Oleg Sentsov is serving his sentence. Alekhina reported this on Facebook. Activists hung a banner with the inscription Free Sentsov on the bridge over Lake Saysary, which is located 7.5 km from the colony where Sentsov is serving his sentence, and also lit two flares. Using linen cloth and a pink spray can we made

04:52 28.10.2016

Thus, the punk band expressed its attitude towards the US presidential candidate. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova from the punk band Pussy Riot presented a new video directed against US presidential candidate Donald Trump. It was directed by Jonas Akerlund, who directed Lady Gaga's Telephone video. As Tolokonnikova wrote in her blog, even during her imprisonment after a punk prayer in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, she decided that she would work with Jonas, and now this plan has been realized. In the English-language video, Tolokonnikova performs several

19:08 03.02.2016

The infamous girls from the group Pussy Riot released a video for the song CHAIKA. This time the song became a kind of response to the lack of reaction from the official authorities to the investigations of Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation; it mentions the main persons involved, the main investigations (Irkutsk Shipping Company, the Tsapkov family, Roman Tsepovyaz and others). Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, in a form similar to the prosecutor’s, calls not to eat modest things, to consume modest things and addresses: Be humble, be meek, do not worry about perishable things, the power given by God,

16:16 09.02.2015

The NTR IDFA Award for Best Mid-Length Documentary went to Pussy Versus Putin. The creators of the film are the creative team Gogol’s Wives Productions, the director participates in the festival anonymously, fearing persecution in his homeland. According to the festival jury, the film brilliantly conveys the story of Pussy Riot. The jury members note the courage of the directors who created video evidence of the sensational trial. The jury expressed hope that the victory of the documentary

12:12 04.12.2014

Pussy Riot is being driven out of America because of Ferguson. The Americans are demanding that the visas of Tolokonnikova, Alekhina and Verzilov be revoked and that they be banned from entering the USA. Do you remember HOW the hooligans from Pussy Riot were received in the USA? How they were treated. Hillary Clinton met, they gave all sorts of bonuses, Petya Verzilov got in touch with Yoko Ono. Madonna called everyone to save Nadya. All kinds of senators lined up. The only thing they didn’t do was never ask me to sing. Which is understandable, not every hearing aid can withstand wild, hysterical and absolutely unmusical speech. IN

17:38 27.11.2014

The Americans demand that the visas of Tolokonnikova, Alekhina and Verzilov be canceled and that they be banned from entering the United States. Do you remember HOW the hooligans from Pussy Riot were received in the USA? How they were treated. Hillary Clinton met, they gave all sorts of bonuses, Petya Verzilov got in touch with Yoko Ono. Madonna called everyone to save Nadya. All kinds of senators lined up. The only thing they didn’t do was never ask me to sing. Which is understandable, not every hearing aid can withstand wild, hysterical and absolutely unmusical speech. In general, they were accepted as fighters against totalitarianism12:56 06/05/2014

The Russian Federation called the infringement of freedom of speech a side effect in protecting the feelings of believers from Pussy Riot 06/05/2014, 12:32 Alexey Ponomarev Photo ITAR-TASS / Mitya Aleshkovsky The Russian government refused to consider the criminal prosecution of Pussy Riot members for a punk prayer service in the Cathedral of Christ an attack on freedom of speech Savior. This, as Vedomosti writes, is stated in a memorandum sent by Moscow to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The 35-page memorandum contains detailed answers to a number of questions that the ECHR previously addressed to the Russian authorities.

12:13 08.04.2014

Human Rights Commissioner Ella Pamfilova did not express complete satisfaction with the review of the case of the Pussy Riot members and stated that there was no crime in the actions of the girls who performed the punk prayer service. In a note published on the official website of the Ombudsman, Pamfilova writes that since the court established that there was no motive of hatred towards any social group in the actions of the convicts, it would only be natural to exclude the motive of religious hatred. And accordingly, admit that Tolokonnikova N.A., as well as Alekhina M.

13:43 04.04.2014

The Presidium of the Moscow City Court commuted the punishment of the Pussy Riot participants to 1 year and 11 months April 4, 12:06 The court found that the punk band’s concert did not incite religious hatred. The Pussy Riot group did not incite religious hatred during a punk prayer in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, which allows the punishment of its members to be reduced by 1 month - up to 1 year 11 months. This decision was made by the Presidium of the Moscow City Court. The court partially satisfied the complaints of the group members, changing the legal basis for the guilty verdict. In the final version of the verdict

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

The official date of birth of the Pussy Riot group is November 7, 2011, when their first video was published on the Internet. In a short time, the members of the group (their composition and numbers were constantly changing) managed to perform short and extremely energetic songs in the Moscow metro, on the roof of a trolleybus, on the roof of the building opposite special detention center No. 1, and even on Lobnoye Mesto on Red Square. By the way, eight girls came out to Red Square, all of them were detained, two of them were brought to administrative responsibility.

The action, which the group members called a punk prayer, consisted of two parts. The first part of Pussy Riot was held on February 19 in the Yelokhovsky Cathedral at a time when there was no service there and there were few parishioners. The group members performed silently at first, but as soon as they tried to sing lines from their song, they were escorted out of the temple by security guards.

According to Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, this episode did not receive widespread media coverage, since “the girls did not have time to sing the blasphemous words.”

The second part of the punk prayer service took place on February 21 in the church. Participants in bright dresses, with their faces covered with balaclavas, climbed to the pulpit (the raised platform in front of the altar barrier or iconostasis) of the temple, where they tried to sing the song “Virgin Mary, drive me away” with choreographic accompaniment, but less than a minute later they were kicked out of there by security guards.

Reaction to punk prayer

To say that what happened caused a huge resonance is to say nothing.

Professor of the Moscow Theological Academy, Protodeacon Andrei Kuraev, on the day of the speech, called the action a “legitimate disgrace” during Maslenitsa - the time of “buffoons and shifters” and stated that if he were the clergyman of the temple, he would “feed them pancakes, give them a bowl of mead and invite them to come again at the Rite of Forgiveness."

True, the peaceful position was sharply condemned by the academic council of the academy, after which the protodeacon himself explained his statements as an attempt to enter into a pastoral dialogue and a desire to “reduce the boiling point.”

In turn, the then chairman of the Synodal Department for Relations between Church and Society stated that the group’s actions in relation to Orthodox shrines were blasphemy (by the way, the members of the punk group enriched the Russian language with the term “blasphemers”). According to Chaplin, their act inflamed “discord between believers and non-believers,” and “we, Orthodox Christians, were challenged in a boorish, arrogant and aggressive manner.”

As for the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill, he publicly spoke out about the action only on March 24, 2012, calling their action a mockery that can fall “on someone’s soul as a kind of valor, as a kind of correct expression of political protest, as a kind of appropriate action or as a harmless joke." He also added that “every believer can’t help but be offended by (Pussy Riot’s act”).

The opinions of Pussy Riot's colleagues in the music scene were also polarized. The leader of the DDT group said that the girls should be forgiven, and punishing them is “not Orthodox”: “They could sing all this in front of the temple. As a believer, I did not like this. But I forgave them as a Christian for this hooliganism. And I propose to forgive everyone, and give ours an example.”

At the same time, the singer burst out with an angry message on her website, saying that the members of the “punk band Pussy Piggy,” “goats” and “trash,” insulted her “as a believing Christian to the depths of her soul” (spelling and punctuation copyrighted), and to the point of to such an extent that Vaenga is “shaking.”

“Do you know why these goats didn’t go to the michet or the synagogue (? especially to the michet??????? Yes, because if they got in there, they wouldn’t have gotten to court; the Muslim brothers would have shown them right away “ Christian forgiveness "((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((to stick your nose in)

Let us note that representatives of the Muslim clergy subsequently spoke out condemningly about the actions of Pussy Riot, but in the situation, if they really tried to hold an action in the mosque, they would have called the police.

What were the group members accused of?

Five days after the punk prayer, on February 26, 2012, the participants in the action were put on the wanted list on charges of hooliganism. On March 3, Maria Alekhina was also arrested, and on March 16, Ekaterina Samutsevich. Two more participants in the action remained unrecognized.

The victims in the criminal case regarding the “punk prayer” of Pussy Riot in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior were recognized as the temple guards who had previously been witnesses - employees of the private security company "Kolokol-A" Beloglazov, Shilin and others (eight people in total), the temple candle maker Lyubov Sokologorskaya and one parishioner, member of the People's Cathedral organization.

“After this action, the entire recently created Center for Combating Extremism of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, where I then served, was raised, the criminal investigation department of the Moscow police, people from and even employees of the police patrol service. There was only one task: to find whatever possible ways to convict Tolokonnikova and her two girlfriends of wrongdoing,” a source familiar with the progress of the investigation into the case against Tolokonnikova told Gazeta.Ru.

According to him, Article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Inciting hatred or enmity” then covered a relatively small range of criminal acts, and it could not be applied to what the Pussy Riot participants did. But the article “Insulting the feelings of believers” was not yet in the Russian Criminal Code. “In the end, it was decided to prosecute them for hooliganism.

At the same time, most of the old MUR operas were against the girls being given a real prison term. They did not rule out that a large fine and a public apology from the members of this, so to speak, group would be enough.

But the service zeal of the employees of the Investigative Committee and the young workers of the E center prevailed,” he added.

The girls were kept in custody until the court's verdict. All those arrested were charged with hooliganism motivated by religious hatred. According to the investigation, Tolokonnikova, Samutsevich and Alyokhina prepared for the action in advance and carefully planned everything. “They distributed roles among themselves and deliberately purchased clothing for vestments that clearly and obviously contradicted the general church rules, the requirements of order, discipline and the internal structure of the church,” the indictment said.

In addition, the investigation separately noted that some details of Pussy Riot’s clothing, in particular balaclavas and “short dresses that expose certain parts of the body,” “increase the danger of the committed act and give it the appearance of a maliciously conscious and carefully planned action to humiliate the feelings and beliefs of numerous adherents Orthodox Christian faith and derogation of the spiritual foundation of the state."

According to the indictment, before visiting the main church of the country, the activists did everything possible to notify as many people as possible about their event, and the visit itself was supposed to “provoke unrest among believers, touch on their most cherished ideals and ideas about justice, good and evil.” .

Witness testimony describes the actions of the Pussy Riot members in the temple as follows: “They jumped, raised their legs, imitated dancing and punching imaginary opponents.” The guards, the sacristan and the parishioners reported that the activists “chaotically waved their arms and legs, danced and danced”, “their behavior, to put it mildly, was inappropriate, and in fact violated all conceivable and inconceivable generally accepted rules of behavior in the temple” and that their punk prayer service hurt and insulted everyone.

The action in the temple caused the same feelings among the victims - indignation, irritation and resentment. Separately, they all in unison noted “severe mental pain” because the incident occurred in the last week before Lent. The victims do not believe the statements of the activists who said that they have a good attitude towards Orthodoxy. They considered that the words “God’s crap” were blasphemy against Jesus Christ, and perceived the fact that the activists crossed themselves and bowed as a parody of the actions of Orthodox believers.

“They ridicule the high role of the mother - giving birth to children - and call for pointless protest, a war of all against all.” In addition, witnesses in the case believed that during the punk prayer the activists managed to “mock Orthodox traditions” and “used a substitution of concepts.”

The latest examination in the Pussy Riot case described the dances of the participants as “cheeky”, “vulgar”, “depraved”, “inappropriately overtly sexualized”, “sexually licentious”, including due to the performance of the action in the XXX century, indecent clothing and “high lifting” legs above the waist."

Pussy Riot verdict

On August 17, 2012, all those arrested were sentenced under the article “Hooliganism” (Part 2 of Article 213 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) to two years in prison. However, on October 10, 2012, Samutsevich changed his sentence to probation and released her in the courtroom. The decision was explained by the fact that she practically did not participate in the punk prayer service itself, since she was detained by security at the pulpit immediately after the start of the action.

During the trial of the Pussy Riot participants, it seems that everyone managed to speak out in support of or against their actions, including top officials of the state and world stars of show business, including or. On April 23, 2012, the chairman called the punk prayer service in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior an “outrageous” and “immoral” act, adding that the girls could be released. On April 26, 2012, Prime Minister Dmitry said that, as a “churched person,” he believes that the Pussy Riot members got what they hoped for: popularity. On September 12, he announced that the sentence for those convicted should be suspended.

As for the reaction of Russian President Vladimir Putin, on March 7, 2012, according to his press secretary Dmitry Peskov, he called the action “disgusting.” On August 2, 2012, before the verdict was pronounced, Putin suggested that if the girls “had gone to the Caucasus, entered and desecrated some Muslim shrine, we would not have even had time to take them under protection.” However, he added that “there is no need to judge the participants harshly for this,” and expressed the hope that “they themselves will draw some conclusions.” On October 7, 2012 (a few days before the cassation in the Moscow City Court), Putin noted that he had no influence on the judicial system and did not seek the conviction of the girls:

“Contrary to my expectations, they began to develop the case and brought it to court, and the court slapped them with a two-barrel... I have nothing to do with it. They wanted it, they got it."

What did the participants do after prison?

On December 23, 2013, two months before the end of their prison term (in March 2014), Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alekhina were released under an amnesty adopted for the 20th anniversary of the Russian Constitution.

After her release, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, together with Maria, created the “Zone of Law” movement in defense of prisoners. Both girls took part in protests in support of prisoners of the so-called “Bolotnaya case”. As a Gazeta.Ru correspondent recalls, during the sentencing of the 12 defendants in this case, riot police tried to detain them in front of the Zamoskvoretsky Court in Moscow, but in the end the crowd surrounded the members of the punk band, and only Alekhine managed to be pushed into the paddy wagon.

“After a relatively short time, Alekhina had a conflict with Tolokonnikova; these are very different and strong people who have a hard time together. In any case, the Pussy Riot project is now alive and certain actions are sometimes held within its framework,” a source close to Alekhina and Tolokonnikova told Gazeta.Ru.

According to him, both girls were able to benefit materially from their situation. “Nadezhda, together with her husband Verzilov, actively performed in the West, where they still have good connections.

Currently, an active campaign of leftist radicals against Trump and his actions is unfolding in the United States. As far as I know, Tolokonnikova plans to take part in it,” said Gazeta.Ru’s interlocutor.

He added that Alekhina is focused more on the domestic market, including because she does not speak English very well, but nevertheless performs punk concerts in Russia. Both girls also actively collaborate with the online media Mediazona.

The group “Pussy Wright” appeared in 2011. However, her event in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior brought her worldwide fame, which was regarded by many Russians as an insult to their religious feelings. Despite this, some stars and human rights activists in the West, as well as in our country, came to the defense of the members of the group, most likely without even being familiar with the work of the group and their views, broadcast through various actions. So what is the Pusy Wright group, who are its members and what do they see as their mission?

History of the project

The origins of the group's creativity should be sought in the activities of Riot Grrrl, a feminist movement of the 1990s that has much in common with the punk subculture. At the beginning of the 21st century, it underwent significant changes, and its participants began to organize women's music festivals and provide various types of assistance to girls who find themselves in difficult situations.

In the spring of 2011, several young artists, after a discussion about Riot Grrrl, decided to create an art project close in spirit to this movement, and in November the group’s first non-professional video clip appeared online. Several more months passed, and an application was submitted to the relevant authorities with a request to register the name Pussy Riot as According to the group’s lawyer, Nikolai Polozov, this was done to protect against the use of its name for defamatory purposes.

“Pussy Wright”: translation

Even the name of the group caused indignation among the conservative-minded part of Russian society. After all, the phrase “Pusi Wright” has several meanings translated from English:

the most intelligent translators believe that it means “velvet” or “gentle revolution”;
There is also an opinion that “Pussy Wright” is “the rebellion of the kitties”;
some prefer to understand it as “pussy rebellion,” while agreeing that the latter word in this context is used in a bawdy sense.

In addition, there are several obscene translation options that are inappropriate to present in articles intended for posting on serious resources.

Project operating principles

When it comes to the next “Pussy Wright” action, it is almost impossible to say who exactly it is. The fact is that the project does not imply a permanent lineup of participants, and the girls try to keep their names secret. This is also related to the choice, so to speak, of stage costumes, part of which invariably is a bright-colored balaclava that completely covers the face and head. The girls address each other by pseudonyms, which they sometimes change in order to confuse others. The participants of “Pussy Wright” organize their performances in various crowded places so that as many people as possible become their spectators, and also with the goal of “breaking society’s ideas about the role of musicians in the modern world.”

What is known about the composition of the team

The pseudonyms of the group members, which became public, sound like: Balaklava, Squirrel, Vozhzha, Blondie, Sparrow, Manko, Garadzha Matveyeva, Kot, Pohlobka, Serafima, Washer, Terminator, Tyurya, Shlyapa and Schumacher. As the members of “Pussy Wright” told reporters (it’s hard to say who exactly it was), other girls who support the ideas that they broadcast to the world through their songs can perform as part of the group at any time.

“Punk Prayer” 2012

Until 2012, in our country, and even more so in the world, few people knew about the feminist group “Pussy Wright”. Many people wanted to find out who it was only after the so-called punk prayer. His group organized it on February 21st at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. As it turned out, the group “Pussy Wright” had performed in the church, or at least tried to perform, before. In particular, on February 19, the group members tried to organize an action in the Epiphany Cathedral in the city of Elokhov. It is impossible to call both actions anything other than hooliganism, since the country is full of places where you can express your own. One cannot but agree that no other religion would be as tolerant of this kind of hooligan antics as Orthodoxy. But this should not mean that one can be so disrespectful of the feelings of a significant part of Russian citizens who consider themselves Christians.

During both actions, video shooting was carried out, the results of which were later edited into a two-minute video posted online.

Trial of band members

In general, punk bands in the world quite often became troublemakers. They were also often involved in However, the so-called “Pussy Wright” case (who it was, only a few knew until 2012) had an unprecedented public outcry, fueled also from abroad.

At the beginning of March 2012, two participants in the project were arrested - N. Tolokonnikova and M. Alyokhina, and 2 weeks later - E. Samutsevich. As independent public opinion polls showed, the majority of citizens of our country at that time believed that the members of the group deserved punishment, but only 16 percent of those surveyed demanded detention. The girls were sentenced in August 2012. It was quite harsh, as it implied staying in a general regime colony for two years, and this despite a number of In particular, many human rights activists pointed out that it should have been taken into account that the girls had young children at that time. As a result of consideration of the complaint, the real punishment for Samutsevich was replaced with a suspended one, but the punishment for the other two members of the punk group remained in force.

Stay in prison and activities after release

While in the women's colony, the members of “Pussy Wright” decided to start protecting the rights of prisoners in Russian prisons. They reported this after their release as a result of the amnesty announced on the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the current Russian Constitution. N. Tolokonnikova and M. Alekhina decided to call their joint project “Zone of Law,” and in one of their interviews they noted that they were interested in it much more than punk prayers.

Songs

As for the group’s creativity, according to critics, it is not of particular interest from a musical point of view. The most famous songs of “Pussy Wright” are “Mother of God, drive Putin away!”, “Kropotkin-vodka” and “Putin will teach you to love your homeland.” The last composition was performed several times by members of the group during the Olympic Games in Sochi. These actions caused a negative reaction from IOC representatives, who stated that such important sporting events should not be turned into a platform for expressing political protests. By the way, during one of these performances, girls in balaclavas with batons and whips were attacked by Cossacks patrolling the city streets along with police representatives. They were indignant at the fact that the members of “Pussy Wright” tried to overshadow the most important sports festival that Russia had been waiting for since the 1980 Olympics.

Where is “Pussy Wright” now?

Quite recently, after some lull, new information about the activities of this group appeared in the domestic and foreign press. In particular, it became known that the girls shot a video in English called I Can’t Breathe. It is dedicated to the death of an African American man who was strangled by police during his arrest in the summer of 2014. The title of the song is translated as “I can’t breathe” and in the video, N. Tolokonnikova and M. Alekhine, dressed in the uniform of the Russian riot police, are buried alive, covered with earth. In addition, back in 2014, the group members created the “Mediazona” website, dedicated to the protest movement in the country and freedom of speech. Thus, it can be stated that the girls have become more serious, and their actions will be less shocking.

Now you know some information about “Pussy Wright” (who it is, what they do, how and why they became famous) and you can decide for yourself how to feel about their shares.