Event: February 19, 2012 in the Epiphany chapel of the Epiphany Cathedral in Elokhov (Moscow) and February 21 of the same year in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, participants of the group Pussy Riot were held an action, designated by the group as “punk-moleben  “Virgin Mary, Put Putin Away”.

The purpose of the action is to organize a provocation against Vladimir Putin and the Russian Orthodox Church. To cause a wave of discussion in society on the topic of the forbidden canons of religion and human rights. To achieve an international response to the rights and freedoms of citizens in Russia, to compromise the authorities and the judiciary.

Direction: religion, government

Instrument: creativity, musicians, radical feminism

Method: punk-moleben, protest action

Media coverage:

https://lenta.ru/news/2012/02/22/riot/

https://www.bbc.com/russian/russia/2012/02/120221_pussy_riot_cathedral_concert

The reaction of society: the public of Russia took hostilely this action, Orthodox people demanded severe punishment.

Research Holding Romir in March 2012 conducted a survey on the attitude of Russians to the action of the punk band Pussy Riot in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The majority of Russians (70%) reacted negatively to the action of the punk group: 38% expressed indignation, and 32% noted that such actions should not be held in the temple. About 7% of Russians, although they do not support the action, believe that its participants can be understood. Less than 1% of respondents expressed support for the actions of Pussy Riot.

Liberal-minded citizens and journalists spoke in defense of the participants demanding the release of all. Among the musicians, the company began to support the band: Yuri Shevchuk, Lena Katina. Nikita Dzhigurda and others.

Pussy Riot was accused of hooliganism based on religious hatred committed by a group of persons on a preliminary conspiracy (part 2 of article 213 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

International Resonance: according to a study conducted by the Russian monitoring agency NewsEffector, the conviction was unprecedented in the world resonance and response of the Russian event in recent years. About Pussy Riot wrote 86% of the world’s media. The international human rights organization Amnesty International recognized the prisoners as prisoners of conscience. More than one hundred artists and writers came out in defense of Pussy Riot, making open statements.

On June 9, 2012, Deputy of the House of Commons of the British Parliament Kerry McCarthy and European Minister David Lidington expressed their deep concern over the lengthy pre-trial detention of members of the rock band Pussy Riot.

The USA State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell considers Pussy Riot’s case politically motivated by the persecution of the opposition.

On August 7, 2012, more than 120 representatives of all factions of the German parliament signed a letter in defense of the group Pussy Riot, which was sent to the Russian ambassador to Germany, Vladimir Grinin.

The BBC believes that most Western correspondents sentenced Pussy Riot to a state of shock and that the world press sees in the trial of Pussy Riot a farce. All international human rights organizations condemned the actions of the authorities against the participants of the group.

What they achieved: the main goal was achieved, the provocation against the authorities was a success, and the information field around this case struck the international status of the state. The secret goal, to open the next Window of Overton was realized and the society began to discuss and criticize Orthodoxy. More than 100 actions in support of participants and thousands of statements in the media from celebrities made from the participants of the performance of iconic figures.

Sociological studies at the end of the trial showed shifts in public opinion towards mitigation of the sentence, on December 23, 2013 Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina were released on an amnesty in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

Thanks to international pressure and resonance in the world, the members of the group, although they received a real term, were released under an amnesty. In 2018, the ECHR awarded a total of about 50 thousand euros compensation for criminal prosecution and conditions of detention to the participants of the punk band Pussy Riot Maria Alekhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Ekaterina Samutsevich. The activists who were convicted under article “hooliganism” (part 2 of Article 213 of the Criminal Code) insisted that the Russian authorities violated their right to freedom of expression, and also created inhuman conditions for them in pre-trial detention and in court.