Russian police detain two Pussy Riot members after flag stunt on Putin's birthday - activist

by Reuters
Thursday, 8 October 2020 12:30 GMT

FILE PHOTO: Political activist and member of the punk protest band Pussy Riot Maria Alyokhina speaks during an interview before a concert to support sisters Krestina, Angelina and Maria Khachaturyan, who are on trial for the murder of their reportedly abusive father in Moscow, Russia August 18, 2019. Picture taken 18, 2019. REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva

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Two Pussy Riot members were arrested after they hung up rainbow flags on government buildings on President Vladimir Putin's birthday

MOSCOW, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Russian police detained two members of the Pussy Riot punk group on Thursday, activist Pyotr Verzilov said, a day after the group hung up rainbow flags on government buildings on President Vladimir Putin's birthday to promote gay rights.

Verzilov, an anti-Kremlin activist and associate of Pussy Riot, posted videos on social media of police officers detaining two women that he identified as activists Maria Alyokhina and Nika Nikulshina.

It was not immediately clear why the women had been detained. (Reporting by Polina Ivanova; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Andrew Osborn)

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