Nadia Tolokonnikovaco-founder of Pussy Riothas been included on Russia’s federal “most wanted” list after being declared a “foreign agent” in 2021.
The punk artist, who was declared “foreign agent“by him Russian Ministry of Justice in 2021has been formally charged following an investigation carried out this week by the country’s Investigative Committee. According to Billboard, the band’s representatives claim that the committee accused Tolokonnikova of violate the “foreign agents law” Russian and included her on the federal wanted list.
The activist is accused of violate section 2 of article 330.1 of the Russian criminal codewhich contemplates a sentence of up to two years in prison for “foreign agents” for various crimes, including not registering or not labeling posts on social networks. This comes weeks after Pussy Riot organized a protest in front of the headquarters of the American technology company Ubiquiti in Manhattan for “funding Russian war crimes.”
Pussy Riot is a Russian feminist collective formed in 2011. They rose to fame in 2012 with their protest work, “A Punk Prayer”, in response to accusations of electoral fraud and manipulation in the re-election of Vladimir Putin as president. Since then, the members of the collective have organized multiple protests, including one in the Indiana State Capitol, in June 2022. That same year, Tolokonnikova released Pussy Riot’s first mixtape, “Matriarchy Now”.
