The Birth of Pussy Riot: Six Early Songs

About These Sources

Formed in August 2011 in Moscow, Russia, Pussy Riot began as a political performance art group capable of writing, producing, and creating their own music and performance videos through their members' different specialities. Nadya Tolokonnikova is commonly considered the leader and face of Pussy Riot, and Masha Alyokhina has served as her right-hand woman since their arrests. Katya Samutsevich was intimately involved in Pussy Riot activities up until her court conviction. I reference these three known Pussy Riot members hereafter by their respective diminutives Nadya, Masha, and Katya, following the conventions set by international media outlets.

Born on November 7, 1989 near the Arctic Circle in Norilsk, Russia, Nadezhda Andreyevna “Nadya” Tolokonnikova moved to Moscow at the age of 17 to join the philosophy department at the prestigious Moscow State University.1 There, she met her future husband Pyotr Verzilov. The two married sometime in either 2007 or 2008, soon after becoming involved in political art performances as a couple. Nadya was 22 years old and in her final year of study at the time of her arrest.

A native Muscovite, Maria Vladimirovna “Masha” Alyokhina was born on June 6, 1988. She was raised by her mother, a programmer, and didn’t meet her father until she was 21 years old. At the time of her arrest in 2012, Masha was a 23-year-old single mother, a published poet, and a student at Moscow’s Institute of Journalism and Creative Writing. She became involved in political and environmental activism in late 2008.2

Yekaterina Stanislavovna “Katya” Samutsevich was born on August 9, 1982 in Moscow, Russia. As the oldest of the members discussed in this edition, Katya is the only one who grew up primarily during the last years of the Soviet Union. As a result, she is able to remember the economic devastation her family struggled through following the collapse of the state in 1991. Upon reaching adulthood, Katya studied computer programming at the Moscow Power Engineering Institute before deciding to switch to media art at the Rodchenko School of Photography and Multimedia (in Moscow) where she graduated at the top of her class.3  At the time of her arrest, Katya was 29 years old and working as a freelance programmer. As a member of Pussy Riot, she was heavily interested in LGBTQ+ issues, women’s rights, and societal roles in Russia.

The backgrounds and occupations of the other Pussy Riot members remain unknown. When asked in an interview with the Moskovskie Novosti about what kind of people they are in their everyday lives, they only answered, “This isn’t that important. The composition of our group is constantly changing. Today one, tomorrow another . . . Pussy Riot is our main occupation, none of us have a full-time job.”4 In a separate interview, different members clarified the qualifications necessary to join Pussy Riot or embody the movement: “We’re not gonna kill anyone. We use peaceful methods, metaphor, and art. Anyone can take on this image with masks, dresses, musical instruments, and lyrics. It’s not that hard—just write a song, some music, and think of a place to perform.”5

Pussy Riot was originally formed by 11 to 15 women, many of whom were already part of the provocative and newsworthy group Voina. Meaning “war” in Russian, Voina is a political performance art group believed to have been co-founded in 2007 by Oleg Vorotnikov, Nadya, and Verzilov. All three were members of the philosophy department at Moscow State University. Nadya and Verzilov spent several years in the group, even participating together in a public sex demonstration held live at Moscow’s Timiryazev State Museum of Biology in 2008.6 The performance, intended to protest Dmitrii Medvedev’s 2008 Russian presidential campaign, was titled Ebis’ za naslednika Medvezhonka (“Fuck the Little Bear for Your Heir”). This title plays on Medvedev’s familial name, as bear in Russian is medved. This public display responded to Medvedev's comments  that Russians needed to increase the national birth rate.7

This perhaps marks the first time that the Russian news ridiculed Nadya’s character, as she was in her third trimester of pregnancy during the public orgy. In a later 2012 Russia Today interview with Vladimir Putin, Putin actually referenced Nadya’s involvement in this performance as grounds to dismiss the integrity of Pussy Riot’s message.8 Nadya later gave birth to a daughter, Gera, in 2008.

Voina underwent a major split in 2009 due to disagreements that Nadya and her husband had with the other co-founder Oleg Vorotnikov. Katya Samutsevich had already become a member of the group by this time, and followed Nadya and her husband in founding their own “Voina,” claiming they also had a right to the name. Their Voina was Moscow-based, while the original group remained stationed in Saint Petersburg.

This new Voina was able to garner several members who would ultimately help found Pussy Riot in 2011. This included Masha Alyokhina, who was later arrested and sentenced together with Nadya and Katya. Nadya’s husband Verlizov cannot be considered a Pussy Riot member despite his efforts to become the group’s spokesperson after Nadya's, Masha's, and Katya’s arrests. His attempts to speak for the group and claim representation are actually rumored to have been the reason behind his and Nadya’s later divorce.9

In one of Voina’s stunts, members filmed themselves nonconsensually kissing policewomen in the Moscow subway system.10 Both Nadya and Katya engaged in this stunt, known as Lobzaĭ musora in Russian. Lobzaĭ musora translates to “Kiss a Dirty Cop” in English. Musor in Russian means “trash,” but it is also a derogatory term akin to “pig” for a cop.

In many ways, Voina’s media-attracting tactics carried over to Pussy Riot—whose jarring punk rock tunes are joined by screamed explicit lyrics, fierce jumping and air kicking, and various stunts such as arson, miscarriage pranks, and accidental theft. Like Voina, Pussy Riot took their activities into the bowels of the Moscow subway system: they filmed themselves illegally performing atop scaffolding.11 The group is designed to attract notice and demand attention—their signature neon dresses, tights, and balaclavas catch the eye while their blaring beats pound on the eardrums.

Along with their explicit and sexual lyrics, the name of Pussy Riot itself is meant to ensure that they are remembered. Coming from the English-language equivalents, the inappropriate name “Pussy Riot” was intentional; it implies the power of the female sex organ and forces critical Russian politicians and conservatives to say, as Putin calls it, an “obscene” word.12 The English terminology additionally allows international English-speaking news outlets to remember and more easily report on their activities.13

This line of provocative thinking also carried over to the group’s concept. Members of Pussy Riot are political activists who are determined to demonstrate their beliefs. When asked to define their purpose, several anonymous members stated that, “As artists, our goal is to change humanity, to transform consciousness a little bit. To free society from prejudices and stereotypes, to be the voice for the voiceless. We need to destroy this entire system because it’s rotten from head to tail. Only radical revolutionary action can change anything—talk and compromise gets you nowhere.”14

Their goals of being able to “change humanity” and “free society from prejudices and stereotypes” relate to Pussy Riot’s advocacy for anarchist feminism and LGBTQ+ rights while their desire to “destroy the entire system” concerns the notion of “Putin’s Russia.” Though they are a punk rock feminist protest art and performance group, Pussy Riot is sometimes labelled as just an “anti-Putin group” because of their criticisms of the Putin regime. This label doesn’t wholly reflect their concept and work, however, because Pussy Riot is also opposed to the continuation of Soviet imperial political practices in the modern Russian Federation and authoritarianism in general.

While the style of Pussy Riot’s music was influenced specifically by punk rock bands like Bikini Kill and Sham 69,15 for them music has always been more of a conduit for verbal expression than its own art form—the lyrics bear greater importance than how they are sung or the accompanying sounds. Their performance style is meant to reflect the incendiary nature of their lyrics and show that their performances are truly a protest by women: a “Pussy Riot.”

The group has gone through several phases since their original founding. After a cohesive early period from October 2011 to January 2012, group members started having disagreements about performances being taken “too far.” Amidst these disagreements, Pussy Riot members held the contentious performance at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on February 21, 2012.16

Following the March 2012 arrests of Nadya Tolokonnikova, Masha Alyokhina, and Katya Samutsevich (a consequence of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior demonstration), the rest of Pussy Riot went into hibernation for fear of being discovered by the Russian authorities. Two unnamed members actually fled the country following the arrests. During Nadya, Masha, and Katya’s arrests and trial from March to August 2012, public performances were halted completely and maintaining their anonymity became more important than ever. Those remaining in Pussy Riot were therefore active only online, where they frequently attacked the Russian government’s actions towards their incarcerated members and encouraged international outrage against their arrests. It seems that there was also a major drop in membership during this dangerous time period for Pussy Riot. Nadya, Masha, and Katya were convicted on August 12, 2012 “of violating article 213.2 of the Russian Criminal Code” for “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” and were sentenced to serve two years’ time in penal colonies.17

Following a successful appeal process in court, Katya Samutsevich was released early with two years’ probation on October 10, 2012. After a brief Skype appearance at the premiere of the documentary film Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer during the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, Katya has since faded into obscurity—likely because of probation orders to do so.18 Nadya and Masha were each sent to the women’s corrective labor colonies IK-14 and IK-32 to serve out their sentences.19 IK-14 is located in Mordavia and is a former gulag labor camp known for mistreating its inmates, while IK-32 is located in Perm Oblast’. On Putin’s orders, Nadya and Masha, along with 30 other protest activists, were released early from their sentences and granted general amnesty on December 19, 2013.20 The two women have since spent several years living on and off in the United States while continuing to be protest activists.

In 2015, a major schism saw the leftover Pussy Riot members in Russia declare that “PUSSY RIOT IS DEAD”21 while Nadya and Masha in the U.S. publicly claimed that they now spoke for and owned “Pussy Riot.”22 A resurgence of the Russian dregs of Pussy Riot, now featuring Nadya’s ex-husband Verzilov, famously resurfaced in 2018 with a storming of the pitch at the FIFA World Cup final that was held in Moscow.23 Nadya and Masha, on the other hand, have in recent years made their Pussy Riot into an international commercial enterprise with its own brand and YouTube channel.

It has since been difficult to keep track of what can perhaps be labelled as “Pussy Riot 2.0,” since there are now two active groups that denounce each other and function separately with different messages; however, there is a time period between August 2011 and March 2012 where the group’s activities can be definitively labelled as the first and original iteration of Pussy Riot.24 This edition focuses on that first Pussy Riot and its original members that included Nadya Tolokonnikova, Masha Alyokhina, and Katya Samutsevich.

Pussy Riot designs their performances to challenge the status quo, push the boundaries of what is publicly acceptable for women in Russia, and call for non-violent action to incite change. The lyrics “The time has come for an incendiary collision/ The sexist regime’s pack of bitches/ Will beg the feminist wedge for mercy” is evidence enough of that. As a result, this edition features explicit lyrics and topics throughout its entirety. The performances are presented chronologically in the order that they were publicly released, starting from October 2011’s “Kill the Sexist,” to “Free the Cobblestones,” “Kropotkin-Vodka,” “Death to Prison, Freedom to Protest,” “Putin’s Pissed Himself,” and lastly, the contentious February 21, 2012 performance of “Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Chase Putin Away.” 
Back to top 
  1. Lerner and Pozdorovkin, Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer.↵
  2. Lerner and Pozdorovkin.↵
  3. Ibid.↵
  4. Evgeniĭ Gladin, “My ne khotim torgovat’ zhenskim litsom,” Moskovskie Novosti, January 24, 2012, https://www.mn.ru/moscow/people/77630.↵
  5. Lerner and Pozdorovkin.↵
  6. Ibid.↵
  7. Konstantin Akinsha, “Art in Russia: Under Attack,” ARTnews, October 1, 2009, https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/art-in-russia-under-attack-247/.↵
  8. RT, “Putin: Assange case exposes UK double standards (Exclusive Interview),” YouTube video, 43:06, September 6, 2012, https://youtu.be/UB45clPRNoc.↵
  9. “Pussy Riot women disown husband as group’s spokesman,” Hurriyet Daily News, October 12, 2012, https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/pussy-riot-women-disown-husband-as-groups-spokesman-32273.↵
  10. VoinaArhiv, “Gruppa Voĭna zatselovyvaet mentov,” YouTube video, 1:28, February 28, 2011, https://youtu.be/l0A8Qf893cs.↵
  11. Garadzha Matveeva, “Devchonki iz PUSSY RIOT zakhvatyvayut transport,” YouTube video, 2:11, November 6, 2011, https://youtu.be/qEiB1RYuYXw.↵
  12. RT, “Putin: Assange case exposes UK double standards (Exclusive Interview).”↵
  13. Lerner and Pozdorovkin.↵
  14. Ibid.↵
  15. Polly McMichael, “Defining Pussy Riot Musically: Performance and Authenticity in New Media,” Digital Icons: Studies in Russian, Eurasian and Central European New Media, no. 9 (2013): 102.↵
  16. Lerner and Pozdorovkin.↵
  17. Ibid.↵
  18. Katie Van Syckle, “Pussy Riot Member Skypes at Sundance Premiere,” Rolling Stone, January 21, 2013, https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/pussy-riot-member-skypes-at-sundance-premiere-184587/.↵
  19. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, “Mordoviia Zhdet Svoyego Poeta,” Novoye Vremya, March 17, 2014, www.newtimes.ru/articles/detail/80524/.↵
  20. Alissa de Carbonnel, “Pussy Riot band members to be freed from Russian jail,” The Christian Science Monitor, December 19, 2013, https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2013/1219/Pussy-Riot-band-members-to-be-freed-from-Russian-jail.↵
  21. “Ia UBILA PROTEST!!!!” Live Journal of Pussy Riot, “PUSSY RIOT IS DEAD,” June 8, 2015, https://pussy-riot.livejournal.com/6786.html.↵
  22. Jim Sullivan, “‘It’s Not A Band, It’s A Movement’ — Pussy Riot Rages On,” WBUR, February 3, 2021, https://www.wbur.org/artery/2021/02/03/pussy-riot-rage.↵
  23. Olesya Gerasimenko, “Russia World Cup: How Pussy Riot managed to burst into final,” BBC, July 21, 2018, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44886550.↵
  24. Vladimir Kozlov, “Pussy Riot: Anonymous Members Distance Themselves from Two Former Bandmates,” The Hollywood Reporter, February 6, 2014, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/pussy-riot-anonymous-members-distance-677713.↵

This page has paths:

This page references: