FEMEN activist escapes from Ukraine to France

Inna Shevchenko, an activist of the FEMEN women's rights movement, the ideologist of a project to cut down a cross in central Kyiv, has left Ukraine for France, reads a statement posted on the FEMEN's Web site on Wednesda, Sept. 5.

According to the statement, she decided to leave Ukraine "in view of increased pressure from the SBU and the Russian Orthodox Church."

"Within two weeks of the cross being cut down in Kyiv, Shevchenko was under around-the-clock surveillance, and the courtyard of her house was occupied by SBU officers. At a meeting of the council of the organization, it was decided, without waiting for her arrest, to evacuate activist Shevchenko to Paris to ensure she continues her work. Inna left her apartment through the balcony at night, reached the town of Korosten in Zhytomyr region by car, escaping from her pursuers, and safely boarded a Kyiv-Warsaw train," reads the statement.

As reported, on August 17, 2012, Ukrainian activists from the FEMEN women's rights movement cut down a cross commemorating Stalin-era reprisal victims in central Kyiv to express their solidarity with the Pussy Riot all-female punk group's three performers, who were sentenced by a Moscow court to two years in prison each for their "punk prayer" at the Cathedral of the Christ the Savior.