Pussy Riot attacked with whips by police at Sochi

Russian punk group Pussy Riot is attacked by Cossack militia as they try to perform under a sign for the Sochi Olympics. Cossack militia attacked the Pussy Riot punk group with horsewhips on Wednesday as the group staged an impromptu performance under a sign advertising the Sochi Olympics. Six group members — five women and one man — donned their signature ski masks and were pulling out a guitar and microphone when at least 10 Cossacks and other security officials moved in. One guard appeared to use pepper spray, another whipped several group members while others ripped off their masks and threw the guitar in a rubbish bin. Police arrived and questioned witnesses, but no one was arrested. The Cossacks violently pulled masks from women’s heads, beating group member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova with a whip as she lay on the ground. The incident lasted less than three minutes and one Pussy Riot member, a man wearing a bright yellow tank top, was left with blood on his face, saying he had been pushed to the ground. Pussy Riot, a performance-art collective involving a loose membership of feminists who edit their actions into music videos, has become an international flashpoint for those who contend Putin’s government has exceeded its authority, particularly restricting human and gay rights. The group gained international attention in 2012 after barging into Moscow’s main cathedral and performing a “punk prayer“ in which they entreated the Virgin Mary to save Russia from Putin, who was on the verge of returning to the Russian presidency for a third term. Two members of the group, Tolokonnikova and Maria Alekhina, were sentenced to two years in prison, but were released in December under an amnesty bill seen as a Kremlin effort to assuage critics before the Olympics. Source: APTN Get the latest headlines Subscribe to The Telegraph Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Google and are websites of The Daily Telegraph, the UK’s best-selling quality daily newspaper providing news and analysis on UK and world events, business, sport, lifestyle and culture.