A protester's life in Russia. Pussy Riot founding member tells of her imprisonment

Masha Alekhina at Bethells Beach during Pussy Riot's 2019 tour of New Zealand.

Masha Alekhina is a founding member of Russian punk protest group Pussy Riot. She spent two years in jail for calling on the Virgin Mary to banish Vladimir Putin in 2012. It hasn't stopped her fighting for Russians' freedoms. Thirty-three-year-old Alekhina has spent 45 days in prison so far this year. She speaks to Amanda Saxton from home detention in Moscow.

"It feels like all the best people in Moscow, the bravest people, have left or are in jail now. Russia has become like the maddest f***ing anti-utopia.

Masha Alekhina at home in Moscow, wearing her electronic monitoring bracelet.

"Almost all my friends have gone. A lot of people, like really a lot have gone. Probably the biggest wave of relocation in recent history for us. The level of fear is really high. This is a big reason for people to leave: it is illegal to express how you feel, you might be forced to fight in an immoral war, et cetera. People are also leaving because they see it as support for Ukraine.

"Russia has destroyed this country. It is terrifying. It is horrible. I mean, I do not have the words to describe what has happened. My friend, an independent Russian journalist, went to Ukraine and was killed. Just before she left, she interviewed me for the 10-year anniversary of Punk Prayer. Then she went to Ukraine and got hit by a bomb while sitting in her car next to a shopping mall.

"In Russia, you can now go to prison for 15 years for posting 'fake' information. What is fake information? Any news from Mariupol, from Bucha. Videos or screenshots from Facebook, from the Ukrainian Army, can be interpreted as fake. Slogans like 'no war' or 'anti-fascism' count as extremism. Facebook and Instagram are extremist organisations now. If you call for sanctions against oligarchs, you can go to prison for three years. Also of course, it is illegal to call this war 'war'.

"Personally, I am arrested just for being myself. It is not even necessary for me to participate in a protest. There are always two cars waiting by my door, ready to take me to jail. At the beginning of February I was arrested and spent 15 days in a Moscow jail. They freed me on February 22. I was home three days, then arrested again to spend 30 days in another jail. My official crime, usually, is 'resisting police'.

"In jail, we hear only pro-Russian propaganda on the radio. 'Ukranians are Nazis.' 'Russia must protect borders and save our people.' 'Today we hit X number of targets, using these methods.' They joke about companies leaving our country, about sanctions. Before International Women's Day, last month there was a popular one: 'Dear luxury brands remaining in Russia, please join the others and leave our country immediately, yours sincerely, Russia's men.' Very funny.

Pussy Riot on stage during the 2018 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

"When you listen to this all day every day, and understand that this is how most Russians get their information, it is a revelation. Certainly there are people who are very, deeply ashamed about what Putin is doing to Ukraine. But most people are not ashamed. And this is the logical result in a country without freedom of information or speech. Most Russians do not believe that they are important enough to change anything. It is national slavery.

"Putin crushed independent media first. He took information from the people and then step-by-step, he crushed independent institutions. Opinion. Education. Culture. Since the war started, this has accelerated. Any demonstration that does happen now must be very spontaneous. You cannot set a date or time or place — there will be a huge number of police if so. A lot of people are arrested just for being near a place where a protest has been announced. Even if they are just on a smoking break from their office. Police catch people in the subway stations, anyone with blue and yellow colours. Anyone holding flowers or a blank piece of paper. These are all reasons to be taken by police now.

"One woman, a protester in my prison, wrote 'no war' with her shoe in the snow. We were out in the yard for exercise. This prison guard started screaming at her, that she would spend another 15 days in jail.

"What can be achieved by even trying to protest? I think it is about … feeling less guilty? I mean, it's not like it is someone else's army, someone else's troops inside Ukraine. But what could we have done better? I have no answer.

Pussy Riot in the A Punk Prayer documentary.

"I want people to understand that there were and there are Russians against Putin. Who do everything they can to get rid of him. And we have been alone in this fight. Europe did not participate. Personally, I have made hundreds of interviews. I spoke to three parliaments. I toured the world with a show warning people about Putin, that even came to New Zealand. I wrote a book. We would remind people Russia does not exist in a vacuum. This is not happening on Mars. It is happening right next to you guys. And there will come a moment when he will not only repress those who do not agree inside his own country, but he will go further.

Pussy Riot member Masha Alekhina (centre) among Save Our Unique Landscape campaigners during their rally at Parliament, Wellington, March 12, 2019. Photo / Mark Mitchell

"People here are not as guilty as the West accuses, however. Ordinary Russians cannot just take their stuff and leave. They don't have the resources. They can't afford to go to jail for years. Maybe a lot of people don't want to support the regime with their taxes, but most Russians don't have a f***ing choice. What can they do? Burn themselves at the square? One woman journalist did this in 2020, in Nizhniy Novgorod, actually. It achieved nothing.

"I am waiting to see what will happen on May 9, our Victory Day. This is the date the Red Army defeated the fascists in World War II. Normally Moscow's streets are full of tanks and everyone celebrates Russia's soldiers. This year, just maybe, they will not."

Masha Alekhina's interview has been edited for length and clarity.