‘The Russia I know is in jail’: Pussy Riot’s Maria Alyokhina speaks out from house arrest

The long-time opponent of Vladimir Putin tells Oliver Carroll about her latest struggles against the Russian authorities

Pussy Riot’s Maria Alyokhina in court (Maria Alyokhina)

Maria Alyokhina says she knows a thing or two about incarceration.

As one of two members of the Pussy Riot collective jailed in 2012 for an anti-Putin “punk prayer”, Alyokhina spent a total of almost two years in Russia’s tough prison system.

And when asked to describe what is happening in Russia, the words come quickly enough.