You're reading: Ukrainian activists protest Pussy Riot trial

More than 50 Ukrainians on Aug. 17 protested outside the Russian embassy in Kyiv, joining the wave of international protests as a court in Moscow sentenced three members of Russia’s notorious punk band Pussy Riot to 2 years in prison for performing a song in Russia’s main Orthodox cathedral critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Most of the
participants wore balaclavas of
bright colors and were holding banners that read “Free Pussy Riot,” “Let my
Pussy go” and “No Pussy for Putin.”

Musicians played a flute, chanted and performed the “Virgin Mary, redeem
us of Putin” song that Pussy Riot got arrested for performing in the Cathedral
of Christ the Savior in Moscow on Feb. 21, 2012.

Recognized as “prisoners of conscious” by Amnesty International, Maria
Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Ekaterina Samoutsevitch have been in
pre-trial detention since the incident.

“The Pussy Riot process is nothing more than a comeback of Middle Age
inquisitions. There is no room for a witch hunt in the 21st Century,”
the protest’s organizers said.

Dozens of Ukrainians
staged protests in other Ukrainian cities, namely Kharkiv and Odesa, calling
for the trio’s release.

Protests have
taken place in major European cities, Washington D.C., Sydney and Melbourne.

Unlike these peaceful
protests, a much more controversial one was staged in Kyiv by members of the
Femen organization who hacked down a cross in downtown Kyiv.

Ukrainian police said they
had launched a criminal into the destruction of the cross, which was erected to
honor victims of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.

Kyiv Post staff writer Svitlana Tuchynska can be reached at [email protected]