Pussy Riot’s Masha Alyokhina Escapes Russia Amid Putin’s Crackdown on Dissidents

Pussy Riot’s Masha Alyokhina has fled Russia amid Putin’s conflict on Ukraine and crackdown on dissidents. Previously 12 months, Alyokhina was jailed a number of instances for brief stints—makes an attempt to stifle her activism when she was arrested, for instance, at an anti-Putin rally. In April, when authorities introduced that her home arrest would flip into 21 days in a penal colony, she determined to exit the nation. A brand new report from The New York Instances outlines the punk activist’s efforts to evade Russian authorities and discover her manner throughout the border.

Alyokhina had been staying at a buddy’s condominium and mentioned Moscow police have been staking the place out. She reportedly slipped away disguised as a meals courier and left her cellphone behind to keep away from being tracked. Seemingly as a result of the Russian authorities had confiscated her passport, Alyokhina mentioned she was turned away by border guards in Belarus two completely different instances. Through the time when she was trying to cross, she was positioned on Russia’s “needed” record. 

Her buddy Ragnar Kjartansson, the Icelandic efficiency artist who has collaborated with the Nationwide, reportedly satisfied a European nation to challenge Alyokhina a journey doc that basically provided her E.U. citizenship standing. With that doc making certain secure passage, she made it past the Belarus border and traveled to Vilnius, Lithuania.

“I nonetheless don’t perceive fully what I’ve carried out,” Alyokhina advised the Instances. She added: “Plenty of magic occurred final week. It feels like a spy novel.” Learn the total story.

Alyokhina has vocally opposed Vladimir Putin for over a decade, most notably with the 2012 efficiency titled “Punk Prayer” at a cathedral in Moscow. She was sentenced to 2 years’ imprisonment, discovered responsible of “hooliganism motivated by spiritual hatred.” Two months in, she was despatched to complete her two-year sentence at a girls’s jail camp in Siberia. Alyokhina was launched underneath an amnesty legislation in December 2013, discharged solely two months earlier than her sentence was scheduled to finish. She has since traveled and carried out internationally. She additionally based the Russian courts and legislation enforcement watchdog publication MediaZona.