Pussy Riot Member Allegedly Poisoned in Russia

by Brandon Zech September 14, 2018
Pussy Riot’s Peter Verzilov

Pussy Riot’s Peter Verzilov, July 208 (Anton Novoderezhkin\TASS via Getty Images)

The Russian punk protest outfit Pussy Riot has made a statement that one of its members has been allegedly poisoned in Russia. The group has said that Peter Verzilov, one of the four performers of Pussy Riot from this year’s World Cup Final, was hospitalized on September 11, 2018 after he started losing his hearing, speech, and became unable to walk. Fellow Pussy Riot member and Verzilov’s partner Veronika Nikulshina told the Russian news outlet Meduza that Verzilov became ill when he returned from a court hearing, and that his condition quickly worsened in the few hours before paramedics were called to take him to a Moscow hospital.

This incident happened just days after a September 9 episode, where Nikulshina and her friend were arrested while driving in downtown Moscow. Simultaneously, as Nikulshina was detained, Verzilov was brought into custody as he was leaving his home.

On September 12, Pussy Riot posted to their Twitter, “Our friend, brother, comrade Petr Verzilov is in reanimation. His life is in danger. We think that he was poisoned.” According to Nikulshina, Verzilov was moved to the hospital’s toxicology wing and for a period was unconscious in the intensive care unit. Now, he is more stable, and Meduza reports that Verzilov’s doctors believe he either overdosed on or was poisoned with anticholinergic drugs. (Verzilov’s friends are adamant that he’s taken no medication or illicit drugs.) Also according to Meduza, updated information about Verzilov won’t be available “until the morning of September 14, when his latest test results are in.”

Pussy Riot’s Peter Verzilov at the World Cup

Peter Verzilov at the 2018 World Cup. Photo by Anton Sergienko, RBC

In addition to his participation in Pussy Riot’s World Cup performance, which earned him a 15-day prison sentence, Verzilov serves as the publisher of the website Mediazona, an independent publication focusing on court cases and the treatment of Russia’s prisoners. He has long been active in Russia’s protest scene, where he had roots in the performance art group Voina, and later served as a sort of spokesperson for Pussy Riot during the group’s 2012 imprisonment.

If Verzilov’s condition was in fact caused by poisoning, then his isn’t the only ongoing poisoning case involving Russia. This week, two Russians who are suspected of carrying out a state-sponsored nerve-agent assault on a former Soviet spy denied any involvement with the attack.

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