The Birth of Pussy Riot: Six Early Songs

“Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Chase Putin Away” (2012)

In their most internationally famous act, Pussy Riot performed “Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Chase Putin Away” (Bogoroditsa, Putina progoni) at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow on February 21, 2012.1 Titled by some Western news outlets as “The Punk Prayer,” the video footage that went viral online and was later used against Pussy Riot in court actually contained footage from two separate performances of the song: one at  the Epiphany Cathedral at Yelokhovo on February 19, 2012 and the other at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.2 The video was spliced because both performances were halted by guards after less than a minute; it’s been estimated that the Cathedral of Christ the Savior performance (resulting in jail time for Pussy Riot members) actually only lasted around 40 seconds.3 Both performances also resulted guards forcibly hauling members off the premises as spectators became visibly and audibly upset by Pussy Riot’s actions.4

Compared to their stunt at the Epiphany Cathedral at Yelokhovo, much more is known about the Cathedral of Christ the Savior performance. On a cold, wintry day in Moscow, five Pussy Riot members entered the Хram Хristá Spasítelia that is situated near the Kremlin and built on the northern bank of the Moskva River. They timed their visit to be when there was no active church session and only a few visitors. They proceeded to remove their winter coats, don their classic balaclavas, and jump around and perform on the ambo—which Nicholas Denysenko describes as “the sacred space before the sanctuary . . . the place where the president of the liturgical assembly delivers homilies, encyclicals, and makes announcements.”5 After less than a minute of performing while actively trying to resist the guards who immediately tried to restrain them, the Pussy Riot members were finally dragged off the ambo and then escorted out of the building. One member, Katya Samutsevich, was never able to properly start playing her electric guitar due to a guard’s interference; she used this fact as her legal defense. Her defense was successful and kept her from serving two years of jail time, unlike Nadya and Masha. Katya was released on a suspended sentence on October 10, 2012.6

“Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Chase Putin Away” was written in protest of Putin’s 2012 presidential re-election campaign that he eventually won on March 2, 2012. After being president from 2000-2008, Putin served as prime minister from 2008-2012 while his right-hand man, Dmitri Medvedev, changed the law as president to allow Putin to serve more than two presidential terms. Nicholas Tochka argues that Medvedev’s decision “to not stand for re-election . . . cleared a path for Vladimir Putin to consolidate power over the national government as president.”7 As of 2021, Putin is currently in his fourth term as the President of the Russian Federation. “Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Chase Putin Away” was therefore a protest against Putin’s ability to run for re-election when the constitution had forbade such a thing up until his and Medvedev’s intervention. 

The song also criticized the close ties between Putin and the Russian Orthodox Church’s Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Rus’. Patriarch Kirill (pictured on the left) was an open supporter of Putin’s 2012 re-election campaign and the two have been known to publicly and/or financially support one another’s causes to this day.8 George Szirtes notes that “the church is an alternative embodiment of the ‘strong hand’ Putin can employ to influence and control the Russian electorate, which is why the [Pussy Riot] performance, including the reference to the Mother of God, took place in a major Moscow church closely associated with Putin. The church is, necessarily, patriarchal. And the patriarchy—both formal and informal in terms of the family and society generally—is clearly important to a band calling itself Pussy Riot. The performance was, in those terms, a call for female solidarity and rebellion against a state of affairs where Putin’s masculinity is a highly constructed point of appeal.”9

The Cathedral of Christ the Savior's contested history made Pussy Riot’s performance there all the more controversial. Architect Konstantin Thon designed the initial Russian Revival Cathedral in the nineteenth century under the reign of Tsar Alexander III. However, in 1931, as a result of the Soviet Union's anti-religious policies, Stalin ordered the cathedral demolished.10 After dozens of rounds of dynamite explosions, the original Cathedral of Christ the Savior was destroyed, freeing space for Stalin to build his “Palace of the Soviets.”11 Construction of the palace began in 1937, but was eventually halted and terminated. In 1958, the foundation that had been built originally for the palace was reconverted into the world’s largest open-air swimming pool, the Moskva Pool. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and formation of the Russian Federation in 1991, the pool was demolished and construction began in 1995 to recreate the Cathedral of Christ the Savior at its original site. Although rebuilding was finished in 2000, the site’s foundation on the moist earth near the Moskva river and severe construction budget cuts have left the cathedral to slowly sink. Additionally, the cathedral was not built to code like its first 19th century iteration, so parts of the building are already in need of repair or have been built from cheaper materials.12 In 2018, a competition with more than $28,000,000 in funding was announced for architectural firms to do major reconstruction and repinning of the cathedral to stop it from sinking further.13

The history behind the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, along with the Soviet Union’s anti-religious policies in general, has made the church a sensitive topic for many staunch and older followers of the Russian Orthodox Church. Knowing how important the cathedral was to the Russian Orthodox Church, Pussy Riot chose to perform there. This, in part, explains why there was such a strong reaction from the Russian public against their illegal performance. Many saw the performance as a desecration of a church lost for 70 years and as mocking their beliefs. Eliot Bornstein explains the contention further. “In selecting the cathedral," he notes, "Pussy Riot was continuing its assault on Putinism, this time with special attention to the role of the Russian Orthodox Church in maintaining the current system. The choice of venue was not just provocative; it was divisive. The standard liberal response to Pussy Riot’s notorious ‘punk prayer’ in the cathedral tried to split the difference, amounting to something along the lines of ‘Of course, I don’t approve of doing something like that in a church, but their punishment is unjust.’”14

It is the aforementioned viral video of this performance, titled online as “Bogoroditsa, Putina progoni! Pussy Riot v Xrame,” that serves as this edition’s source for the performance, although it seems like the Russian government regularly gets footage of “Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Chase Putin Away” taken down from YouTube due to the video containing “hate speech.”15 For that reason, it is possible that the video this edition links to may one day be defunct. Should that occur, simply search “Pussy Riot -- Punk Prayer” online and the relevant results should be able to replace the taken-down video. 

Performance footage provided below, followed by lyrics and cultural commentary in annotation form:
Lyrics in Russian:Lyrics in simplified ALA-LC style:Lyrics in English:
Богородица, Дево, Путина прогони
Путина прогони, Путина прогони

Черная ряса, золотые погоны
Все прихожане ползут на поклоны
Призрак свободы на небесах
Гей-прайд отправлен в Сибирь в кандалах

Глава КГБ, их главный святой
Ведет протестующих в СИЗО под конвой
Чтобы Святейшего не оскорбить
Женщинам нужно рожать и любить

Срань, срань, срань Господня
Срань, срань, срань Господня (x2)

Богородица, Дево, стань феминисткой
Стань феминисткой, феминисткой стань

Церковная хвала прогнивших воджей
Крестный ход из черных лимузинов
В школу к тебе собирается проповедник
Иди на урок — принеси ему денег! 

Патриарх Гундяй верит в Путина
Лучше бы в Бога, сука, верил
Пояс девы не заменит митингов —
На протестах с нами Приснодева Мария!

Богородица, Дево, Путина прогони
Путина прогони, Путина прогони		Bogoroditsa, Devo, Putina progoni
Putina progoni, Putina progoni

Chernaia riasa, zolotye pogony
Vse prikhozhane polzut na poklony
Prizrak svobody na nebesakh
Geĭ-praĭd otpravlen v Sibir’ v kandalakh

Glava KGB, ikh glavnyĭ sviatoĭ
Vedet protestuiushchikh v SIZO pod konvoĭ
Chtoby Sviateĭshego ne oskorbit’
Zhenshchinam nuzhno rozhat’ i liubit’

Sran’, sran’, sran’ Gospodnia
Sran’, sran’, sran’ Gospodnia (x2)

Bogoroditsa, Devo, stan’ feministkoĭ
Stan’ feministkoĭ, feministkoĭ stan’

Tserkovnaia khvala prognivshikh vodzheĭ
Krestnyĭ khod iz chernykh limuzinov
V shkolu k tebe sobiraetsia propovednik
Idi na urok — prinesi emu deneg! 

Patriarkh Gundiaĭ verit v Putina
Luchshe by v Boga, suka, veril
Poias devy ne zamenit mitingov —
Na protestakh s nami Prisnodeva Mariia!

Bogoroditsa, Devo, Putina progoni
Putina progoni, Putina progoni		Virgin Mary, Mother of God, chase Putin away16
Chase Putin away, chase Putin away!17

A black cassock, golden shoulder boards18
Entire congregations crawl to bow
The spectre of liberty19 is in heaven
Gay Pride20 has been sent to Siberia in shackles21

The head of the KGB, their patron saint,
Leads protesters to holding cells under escort
So as not to offend his Holiness,
Women must bear children22 and love23

Shit, shit, it’s holy shit!
Shit, shit, it’s holy shit! (x2)24

Virgin Mary, Mother of God, become a feminist, 
Become a feminist, become a feminist!25

The Church’s praise of rotten, cult-like leaders
Has turned black limousines into a religious procession
A preacher’s coming to your school
Go to your lesson—bring him some money!

Patriarch Gundyai believes in Putin
It’d be better if that bitch believed in God instead26
The Holy Belt of the Virgin27 will not replace rallies—28
The Perpetual Virgin Mary29 is with us during protests!30

Virgin Mary, Mother of God, chase Putin away
Chase Putin away, chase Putin away!
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  1. “Pank-moleben ‘Bogoroditsa, Putina Progoni’ v Хrame Хrista Spasitelia,” Pussy Riot: Kak v krasnoĭ tiur’me, February 21, 2012, http://pussy-riot.info/blog/2012/2/21/bogoroditsa-putina-progoni.↵
  2. “Pussy Riot gave a ‘concert’ in Yelokhovo Cathedral two days before their action in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior,” Interfax - Religion, March 19, 2012, http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=9161.↵
  3. Lerner and Pozdorovkin, Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer.↵
  4. “Pank-moleben ‘Bogoroditsa, Putina Progoni’ v Хrame Хrista Spasitelia.”↵
  5. Nicholas Denysenko, “An Appeal to Mary: An Analysis of Pussy Riot’s Punk Performance in Moscow,” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 81, no. 4 (2013): 1068-1069.↵
  6. Lerner and Pozdorovkin.↵
  7. Nicholas Tochka, “Pussy Riot, Freedom of Expression, and Popular Music Studies after the Cold War,” Popular Music 32, no. 2 (2013): 304.↵
  8. “Pank-moleben ‘Bogoroditsa, Putina Progoni’ v Хrame Хrista Spasitelia.”↵
  9. “Catechism: Poems for Pussy Riot — Part One: Editors’ Foreword and Introduction by George Szirtes,” Peony Moon, October 31, 2012, https://peonymoon.wordpress.com/2012/10/31/catechism-poems-for-pussy-riot-part-one/.↵
  10. Alekseĭ Viacheslavovich Rogachev, Moskva : velikie stroĭki sotsializma (Moscow: Tsentrpoligraf, 2014), 187.↵
  11. Leonid Lilekootherd, “Snos Хrama Хrista Spasitelia / 1931 god,” YouTube video, 1:05, October 15, 2015, https://youtu.be/gEpMNBPv83s.↵
  12. “The Cathedral Of Christ The Savior, the Russian symbol, requires repair,” Construction.ru, March 23, 2016, https://russianconstruction.com/news-1/23206-the-cathedral-of-christ-the-savior-the-russian-symbol-requires-repair.html.↵
  13. “Moscow authorities announce competition for repair of Christ the Savior Cathedral,” The Information Service of the Serbian Orthodox Church, March 8, 2018, http://www.spc.rs/eng/first_liturgy_500_years_celebrated_near_crimean_cave_church.↵
  14. Eliot Borenstein, Pussy Riot: Speaking Punk to Power (United Kingdom: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020), 25.↵
  15. Garadzha Matveeva, “Bogoroditsa, Putina progoni! Pussy Riot v Xrame,” YouTube video, 1:52, March 10, 2012, https://youtu.be/vpR1mwyIHGY.↵
  16. “Bogoroditse, Devo, Raduĭsia,” Notnyĭ arkhiv Borisa Tarakanova, accessed November 20, 2020, http://notes.tarakanov.net/katalog/kompozitsii/bogoroditse-devo-radyisya-versiya-dlya-zhenskogo-detskogo-hora/.↵
  17. Denysenko, 1071.↵
  18. “Pank-moleben ‘Bogoroditsa, Putina Progoni’ v Хrame Хrista Spasitelia.”↵
  19. Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, and David Harvey, The Communist Manifesto (London: Pluto Press, 2008), 31.↵
  20. Samuel Osborne, “Russian city allows gay pride parade then bans it ‘because children might see it,’” Independent, July 15, 2019, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-gay-pride-parade-ban-strezhovoy-children-nikolay-alexeev-a9005381.html.↵
  21. “Pank-moleben ‘Bogoroditsa, Putina Progoni’ v Хrame Хrista Spasitelia.”↵
  22. Alekseĭ Ovchinnikov, “Sviashchennik Dimitriĭ Smirnov: «Zakon o gendernom ravnopravii - pervyĭ shag k priznaniiu odnopolykh brakov,»” Komsomol’skaia pravda, February 8, 2012, https://www.kem.kp.ru/daily/25831/2806334/.↵
  23. “Pank-moleben ‘Bogoroditsa, Putina Progoni’ v Хrame Хrista Spasitelia.”↵
  24. Gessen, Words Will Break Cement, 119.↵
  25. “Pank-moleben ‘Bogoroditsa, Putina Progoni’ v Хrame Хrista Spasitelia.”↵
  26. Ibid.↵
  27. Sophia Kishkovsky, “In Russian Chill, Waiting Hours for Touch of the Holy,” The New York Times, November 23, 2011, https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/24/world/europe/virgin-mary-belt-relic-draws-crowds-in-moscow.html.↵
  28. Alfred Kueppers, “Virgin Mary’s belt arrives in Moscow before election,” Reuters, November 19, 2011, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-orthodox-election/virgin-marys-belt-arrives-in-moscow-before-election-idUSTRE7AI0SV20111119.↵
  29. “Mariia – Mat’ Iisusa i Bogoroditsa,” Teologia, accessed November 16, 2020, https://www.teologia.pl/ros/tr12-02.htm#1c.↵
  30. Denysenko, 1070.↵

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