Pussy Riot leader Maria Elyokhana has escaped from Russia

Maria Alyokhana, leader Pussy RiotShe escaped from Russia by posing as a food courier to avoid the Moscow police. New York times reports.

why does it matter: Alyokhina was to spend 21 days in a penal colony, but left the country before she was taken into custody by the Moscow police.

What happened: The The Pussy Riot leader threw a disguise at the food courier to avoid Moscow police who were stuck outside her friend’s apartment where she was staying, The New York Times reports.

• She left her cell phone to fool the police and avoid any tracking.
• A friend then drove Alyokhina to the Russian border with Belarus and traveled to Lithuania within a week.

The Big Picture: Pussy Riot, founded in 2011 in Russia, is known for organizing protests in the country to promote civil liberties.

• Russian President Vladimir Putin The band is often criticized.
• Pussy Riot . members They have faced arrests over the years. Alyokina was sentenced to two years in prison in 2012 after the band organized a protest against Putin.
• Yukine has recently criticized Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

what are they saying: “I don’t think Russia has the right to exist anymore,” Aliukhina told The Times.

• Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, she said, “there were questions about how it would unite, what values ​​it would unite in, and where it would go. But now I don’t think that’s a question anymore.”