A Moscow court on Tuesday included Liusia Shtein, a member of Pussy Riot and currently on the run abroad, on an international list of people wanted for "knowingly spreading false information" about the Russian armed forces, the state news agency TASS reported.
Shtein, 27, a former municipal deputy of a Moscow district, fled Russia after escaping house arrest. She said she was able to escape from her by changing out of her uniform into that of a food delivery boy. On her Instagram account, she posted a photo of a cut-off tracking bracelet she was wearing on one leg.
After President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has passed a series of laws imposing harsh punishments on anyone deemed to have discredited the military or spread false news about it.
A source at Moscow's Basmanny court has said that Shtein would be detained as soon as she entered Russia, although he did not specify what specific information she is accused of disseminating about the armed forces. Russian authorities say the group — hailed in the West for challenging the values of Putin's Russia — has attempted to intentionally disrespect Russian culture, morals and orthodoxy.
On November 3, the Russian justice system sentenced activist Pyotr Versilov in absentia (a trial that takes place despite the defendant's failure to appear) to 8 and a half years in prison for spreading "false news" about the Russian armed forces, for the same reason. for which his companion Shtein is being sought.
Pussy Riot, an organization to which they both belong, is a feminist group that rose to fame when they put on a balaclava and broke into the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow in February 2012, shouting a song against Putin and which has subsequently been consecrated as an protesting punk-rock musical band in Russia, creating followers along the way for ideals contrary to the government of the national president.
