Pussy Riot: ‘Europe is financing the war in Ukraine’

Maria Aljochina (left) and Olga Borisova, members of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot. Pussy Riot

The anti-Kremlin feminist punk band Pussy Riot is currently touring Europe. SWI swissinfo.ch caught up with two of the musical activists at their concerts in Switzerland this week.

The Russian punk band Pussy Riot hit the headlines in 2012 after three group members in Moscow were found guilty of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred and sentenced to two years in a prison colony.

The trio were arrested in March of that year after a guerrilla performance in the Russian capital’s main cathedral, during which they called for the Virgin Mary to protect Russia from Vladimir Putin. Two weeks later Putin was elected to a new term as the country’s president.

Members of Pussy Riot also made the news in Switzerland this week. They were temporarily detained on Monday night for spraying anti-war graffiti on a wall in Bern.

SWI swissinfo.ch: Why did you choose neutral Switzerland as the stage for your concerts and political appearances?

Olga Borisova: It’s not just Switzerland. We are performing all over Europe. It’s important for us to show the European public the need for a systematic embargo on imports of oil and gas from Russia, and to underline Europe’s hypocrisy on this issue.

Maria Alyokhina is one of the original members of Pussy Riot. She fled Russia via Belarus in spring 2022 after being sentenced to a year of “restricted freedom” for calling for protests against the arrest of Russian opposition leader Alexeï Navalny.

Olga Borisova is the editor of Maria Alyokhina’s book Riot Days, in which she recounts the preparation for the famous cathedral performance in Moscow and her days in prison.

SWI: What hypocrisy?

O.B.:  We hear about plans to no longer issue visas to Russian tourists. But at the same time European countries still buy oil and gas from Russia. The profits are enormous and make up a large part of Russia’s national budget. It is money that’s being used to keep Putin’s regime in power and to continue the war. Europe and the West are financing the war in Ukraine.

Maria Alyokhina: There is no war if there’s no money involved. Soldiers don’t fight unless they get paid, and you don’t get oppression for nothing either.

O.B.:  We have been calling for sanctions and embargoes since the annexation of Crimea in 2014. We have always stressed that [this annexation] was not just about Crimea or parts of Donetsk and Luhansk; it was an attempt to resurrect the corpse of the Soviet empire. This must be prevented.

SWI: In the meantime, Switzerland has aligned itself with the European Union and imposed sanctions against Moscow.

O.B.:  Yes, I heard that Switzerland has revised its neutrality, as you call it. But it remains the favourite country of Russian oligarchs. They send their children here for their studies and above all they enjoy depositing money in Swiss banks that was stolen from the Russian people via tax evasion.

A lot more could be done. Residence permits could be revoked and assets frozen. More support could also be given to organisations that specialise in identifying these accounts in Swiss banks.

SWI : On stage you shout, “Fuck Putin!” Do you think the Swiss people really understand what is going on in Russia?

O.B.:  The Swiss have a high standard of living and the country has not seen a war for several generations. But there is a real problem of understanding that’s you’re referring to. I think “Fuck Putin!” is a perfectly acceptable slogan for this audience, which understands one thing about the situation: that Putin is bad.

Pussy Riot in concert in Berlin in May 2022. Keystone / Bernd Von Jutrczenka

But people are more reluctant when it comes to actively supporting Ukraine, as they are still tied to a pacifist tradition. I was a staunch pacifist until Russia attacked Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

Today, millions of people are fleeing Ukraine. We have witnessed events in Bucha and Mariupol. People in Switzerland know too little about this. It is our duty to make these events better known.

SWI: How would you describe your art?

M.A.: It’s Russian protest art. We have recorded an anti-war song that we play at every concert on this tour. It is our message, our reaction to the war that Putin started.

O.B.:  Ideally, even the Swiss people, who are used to a comfortable life, will understand our art and the fact that the Putin regime is not just a problem for Russia and Ukraine; it’s a problem for the whole world.

SWI: If you had to quote just two lines from your anti-war song in this interview, which would you choose?

O.B.:  There are two that I think are really good: “Putin likes your indifference; the West has been supplying him with weapons for ten years”.

It may sound a bit pathetic, but our main message is: “Don’t remain indifferent”. The goal is for our audience to put pressure on politicians to take tougher action against Russia.

SWI: What are your plans after the tour? If you hadn’t escaped, Maria Alyokhina, you would be in prison today.

M.A.: I’ve been arrested dozens of times. That shouldn’t be the main thing we focus on. I escaped so that our message can be heard, and that is the message I prefer to talk about, not about me.