ABSTRACT
In early 2012, former Russian President Vladimir Putin was poised to retake the presidency amid accusations of election fraud and abuse of power. Protestors crowded city streets calling for fair elections and other reforms, chanting “Russia without Putin!” and demanding freedom for political prisoners. Having been appointed Prime Minister by his successor, Dmitry Medvedev, Putin's election, which he eventually won, would add at least four more years to his already 12 years in power. Amid the discontent, a feminist punk collective known as Pussy Riot staged several illegal protest events, clad in brightly colored dresses and tights, faces masked by matching balaclavas. Members of the collective, who remain anonymous, had earlier orchestrated protests in subways and outside a prison where authorities held an opposition leader, filming and posting their actions on YouTube. Moscow authorities arrested, detained, and fined the women for performing an anti-Putin song titled “Putin Pissed Himself” in snowy Red Square (Flintoff 2012). In March, the collective offered a punk rock ”prayer“ for Putin's removal, playing ”Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Expel Putin!“ at the altar in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Convicted of hooliganism, a Moscow judge sentenced two women to two years in a penal colony with a reputation for harsh treatment. While some members of the Orthodox church pled for leniency, the church 43Patriarch called the band's actions sacrilegious, claiming “the devil laughed at us” (Elder 2012).
