Prosecutor Vladimir Nagaitsev requested in absentia from 9 to 14 years in a colony for five members of the punk group Pussy Riot — Maria Alyokhina, Taso Pletner, Diana Burkot, Alina Petrova, and Olga Borisova — on charges of spreading military 'fakes', reported a 'Mediazona'* correspondent from the Basmanny Court.
The case involves two episodes that, according to the investigation, spread 'fakes' about the Russian army. The first is the publication at the end of 2022 of a clip for the song 'Mama, Don't Watch TV'. There, according to the prosecution, were false information about the killings of peaceful Ukrainians by Russian soldiers.
The second part of the accusation concerns an anti-war action that the group members conducted in April 2024 at the Munich Pinakothek of Modernity. 'Pletner placed a poster with the image of the Russian president on the stairs, with which she committed obscene actions,' the indictment states. During the action, a Pussy Riot participant urinated on a portrait of Vladimir Putin. The investigation saw in the girls' performance the 'dissemination of false information about the Russian army'. According to the prosecution, the girls wore masks to hide their faces, and by urinating on the president's portrait, 'expressed a disdainful attitude towards the Russian political system'.
Maria Alyokhina was requested 14 years and 21 days in a colony with a five-year ban on website administration, Taso Pletner — 13 years in a colony with a five-year ban on website administration, Diana Burkot, Alina Petrova, and Olga Borisova — 9 years of imprisonment each with a four-year ban on website administration.
All group members conveyed through defenders that they do not plead guilty. 'State institutions should be ready for criticism,' said in the statement voiced by Olga Borisova.
* Recognized in Russia as a 'foreign agent'.