News / Europe

2 Arrested at Russian Cathedral Marking Pussy Riot Stunt

Police escort university professors Yelena Volkova (C) and Irina Karatsuba (R) after detaining them inside the Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow, February 21, 2013.
Police escort university professors Yelena Volkova (C) and Irina Karatsuba (R) after detaining them inside the Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow, February 21, 2013.
TEXT SIZE - +
VOA News
Two women trying to mark the one-year anniversary of the Pussy Riot performance at a Moscow cathedral have been detained by police.

Mobile phone video shows the women, identified as Yelena Volkova and Irina Karatsuba, placing flowers inside the Christ the Saviour Cathedral when police rush in and take them away.

Before entering the cathedral, Volkova praised Pussy Riot's protest, which landed two band members in jail.

"We think that it was in its own way an act of bravery by the girls who came here and told the Church about how low the Church had fallen and what exactly it should do to be the real Church - to serve God and not the state, and to care about the people and not about money and its own power," she said. "So we came here because the girls have suffered despite being completely innocent.  They are now in prison."

Pussy Riot performed what it called a punk prayer at the cathedral last year to highlight what they saw as an inappropriate relationship between the Russian Orthodox Church and the government.

All three ban members were arrested and sentenced for hooliganism but Yekaterina Samutsevich was later released.

She said Thursday she would do it all again.

"No, of course I do not regret the performance.  I only regret the fact that we were convicted because it is of course terribly unjust, and I am very annoyed by this," she said. " But this is the fault of the state authorities because they instituted the criminal case, so all the complaints should be addressed to them."

Samutsevich also says she believes the performance has made a difference.

"The situation in Russia has changed. Firstly, a lot of people learnt about the issue; in particular those who had previously paid no attention to the problems of society, to the Russian Orthodox Church, Putin and Patriarch Kirill," she said. "They learnt about this and saw a huge amount of information on the Internet and on television.  They also saw the trial and us sitting in the aquarium [glass cage] and saw how unjust the whole process was."

The two other band members, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alekhina, are set to be released from prison next March.

You May Like

Pakistan Reiterates Opposition to US Drone Strikes

Day earlier US President Barack Obama justified 'constrained' drone usage to save lives More

Study Identifies Risks of Human Spread of H7N9 Bird Flu

Study suggest that international measures to contain the H7N9 influenza, in the event of severe outbreak, will need to be targeted in Asia More

Violence Continues in Conakry Over Upcoming Elections

Opposition has called for boycott of elections More

Video Syria's Civil War Fuels Violence in Iraq

Analysts say al-Qaida-linked militants are flowing back and forth from both countries More

Video Star Trek Influence Lives Long and Prospers

As new movie thrills, many are once again discussing the iconic franchise's influence on society, science and technology More

OECD: Developing Green Cities Key to Sustainable Future

OECD suggests strategies to mitigate rapid growth, industrialization in urban centers, which produce about two-thirds of greenhouse gas emissions More

Featured Videos

Your JavaScript is turned off or you have an old version of Adobe's Flash Player. Get the latest Flash player.
Your JavaScript is turned off or you have an old version of Adobe's Flash Player. Get the latest Flash player.
Video

Video Volunteers Help Revive LA's Concrete River

The Los Angeles River is a concrete drainage channel through much of its 80-kilometer length. It channels waste-water from storm drains and has become a receptacle for much of the city's trash. But as Mike O'Sullivan reports, the river is slowly being restored with the help of volunteers, who take part in an annual clean-up.