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Pussy Riot release 'Putin Lights Up the Fires'

Staff Writer
Originally Appeared In

Pussy Riot have released a new song, ‘Putin Lights Up the Fires’, after being found guilty of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred", in relation to their February protest inside a Russian Orthodox cathedral in Moscow. The band’s guerrilla performance called for the Virgin Mary to protect Russia against Vladimir Putin, who was elected to a new term as Russia's president two weeks later.

Pussy Riot have released a new song, ‘Putin Lights Up the Fires’, after being found guilty of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred", in relation to their February protest inside a Russian Orthodox cathedral in Moscow. The band’s guerrilla performance called for the Virgin Mary to protect Russia against Vladimir Putin, who was elected to a new term as Russia's president two weeks later.

Three members of the activist punk band – Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Maria Alekhina, 24, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30 – have been sentenced to two years in prison.

The band has received international support, and maintain their protest was a political display, not a religious one.