Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova placed on Russia’s most wanted list

Tolokonnikova has been a long-time activist and critic of Vladimir Putin and the Russian regime

Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova has been placed on Russia’s most-wanted list for allegedly “offending against religious feeling”.

The news was first reported by the Russian news outlet Mediazona, which is founded by Pussy Riot.

The report confirms that Tolokonnikova, 33, is facing criminal charges, but does not specify any details of the case.

Earlier this month, Russian human rights attorney Pavel Chikov said that Tolokonnikova is being charged with “offending against religious feeling,” according to Meduza.

The news was reported a few days after Pussy Riot released footage of their latest protest video called “Putin’s Ashes.”

In the video, Pussy Riot burned a painting of the Russian president and then stabbed the earth while watching his ashes fall.

According to documents verified by Pitchfork, Tolokonnikova is under investigation for some images on her Instagram account that the Russian government deems offensive to Christianity.

They also called the Pussy Riot NFT “an expression of obvious disrespect in relation to the icon image the Virgin Mary, depicted in an obscene form, so that the image is perceived as outwardly similar to the anatomical details of the female external genitalia.”

Nadya Tolokonnikova of 'Pussy Riot' performs at the Sotheby's Institute of Art, The Eli And Edythe Broad Stage and Claremont Graduate University Host Artists, Activism, Agency on February 11, 2019 (Getty Images for ABA)

Tolokonnikova has been a long-time activist and critic of Vladimir Putin and the Russian regime.

In August 2012, Tolokonnikova was one of three members Pussy Riot sentenced to spend two years in a remote penal colony.

Their crime had been to protest Putin’s return to the Russian presidency by walking into Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour and dancing around the altar to the strains of their “punk prayer”, a song titled “Mother of God Drive Putin Away”.

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In 2014, Tolokonnikova went to the Winter Olympics in Sochi to perform an anthem: “Putin Will Teach You to Love the Motherland”.

Soon after that, Pussy Riot was attacked by the Cossack militia and beaten with horsewhips.

In 2022, Pussy Riot created UkraineDAO, an NFT of the Ukrainian flag that raised more than $7m two days after Russia’s first military invasion of the country.

Read Tolokonnikova’s 2022 interview with The Independent here.