Pussy Riot Claims Responsibility for Disruption at 2018 World Cup

During yesterday’s World Cup final match in Moscow between France and Croatia, four individuals ran onto the pitch dressed in police-style uniforms. While one of the individuals was tackled on the sidelines, three others made it on to the field before being stopped and escorted away by officials. Minutes after the disruption, the Russian performance group Pussy Riot claimed responsibility, saying that the four individuals were performing a piece called Policeman enters the Game, drawing on Russian poet Dmitri Prigov as a reference. Prigov asserted a concept of the “heavenly” ideal policeman versus the “earthly” policeman who is insensitive and abusive. The concept behind Pussy Riot’s World Cup performance was organized around six specific demands that the group listed on its Facebook page:

1. Let all political prisoners free.
2. Not imprison for “likes”.
3. Stop Illegal arrests on rallies.
4. Allow political competition in the country.
5. Not fabricate criminal accusations and not keep people in jails for no reason.
6. Turn the earthly policeman into the heavenly policeman.

Though some TV and streaming channels ignored the invasion, people at the match took videos and photographs of the performance, including some professional photographers, which Pussy Riot expected.

Pussy Riot’s YouTube channel posted one video of the performance that was later taken down because it contained content from FIFA, who “blocked it on copyright grounds.” (To be fair, FIFA yanks down all unauthorized videos of FIFA-related events almost as soon as they appear.) Pussy Riot later released another video, which has amassed more than 106,000 views.

The BBC reports that the four Pussy Riot members who participated in the performance include Nika Nikulshina, Olga Kurachyova, Olga Pakhtusova, and Pyotr Verzilov, the husband of early Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova.

Pussy Riot’s social media has been following the story of these four members post-performance, saying that they spent the night at a police station without access to their lawyer and then, after meeting with their lawyer, the four members were taken to Moscow’s Khamovnichesky District Court for a hearing.

To follow this story, visit Pussy Riot’s Facebook page. To learn about the talk Pussy Riot members Sasha Bogino and Masha Alyokhina gave in Austin in 2016, go here. To read about Nadya Tolokonnikova’s presentation at 2017’s Day for Night, go here.