Pussy Riot

Pussy Riot is a Russian feminist punk-rock collective founded in February 2011 and based in Moscow that stages unauthorized, provocative guerilla performances in unusual locations, which are then edited into music videos and posted on the internet. Themes that Pussy Riot present include feminism, LGBT rights, and opposition to Vladimir Putin, who is regarded by Pussy Riot as a dictator. When three of their members were sentenced to two years prison for hooliganism in 2012, the case was taken up by many human rights organisations, including Amnesty International, which designated the women as prisoners of conscience, as well as by Madonna, Sting and Yoko Ono. Their sentencing attracted a lot of criticism from the West.