Five members of the punk art collective Pussy Riot—Maria (Masha) Alekhina, Olga Borisova, Diana Burkot, Alina Petrova, and Taso Pletner—have been sentenced in absentia by a Moscow court to prison terms ranging from 8 to 13 years. The charges stem from spreading “knowingly false information” about the Russian Armed Forces, linked to the collective’s 2022 antiwar video referencing the siege of Mariupol. The sentences were reported by the state-owned news agency Tass and first covered by the Art Newspaper.
This case underscores the severe repression of artistic and political dissent in Russia since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The harsh sentences—far exceeding those for violent crimes in Russia—highlight the Kremlin’s targeting of cultural figures who oppose the war. The article also notes the broader destruction of cultural heritage in Mariupol, including the theft of over 2,000 artworks from local museums, connecting the fate of the artists to the war’s assault on Ukrainian identity and history.