Pussy Riot Members Take Tour to New York

Maria Alyokhina, 25, left, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 24, in New York on Wednesday. Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

By RICK GLADSTONE, NYT
FEB. 5, 2014

Two young women from the Russian punk group Pussy Riot said Wednesday that their 21-month incarceration in Russia’s penal system for having staged a political protest in a Moscow cathedral had emboldened them to speak out more forcefully against President Vladimir V. Putin, partly because of the global support they received.

In an interview with the editorial board of The New York Times, the women said they had no fear of further imprisonment and suggested they may even run for political office in Russia someday. They also advocated a boycott or “other subversive actions” aimed at the Winter Olympic Games, which are about to commence in Sochi. And they expressed admiration for the political protest movement underway in Ukraine, saying they hope it creates an infectious spirit in Russia.

“What happened was that the support and care shown internationally around the world made us free even though, physically, we were behind bars,” one of the members, Maria Alyokhina, 25, said in Russian through a translator in response to the question of whether prison had intimidated them. “In light of that, it’s kind of silly to talk about having to go through that a second time as something that would instill fear in us.”

(More here.)