in brief: pussy riot attacked in sochi

Feminist punk rockers, Pussy Riot have been attacked in Sochi by the region’s Cossack militia.

Video footage clearly shows members beginning to perform a song, when Cossacks cover singer Nadezhda Tolokonnikova (blue balaclava) with pepper spray and then proceed to whip, shove and unmask members.

It additionally shows the militia – utilised by local police to assist in enforcing the law – hitting Tolokonnikova when she was knocked to the ground.

The brutality also caused casualty to one guitar, but the band walked free with none detained.

Band members took to Twitter, posting images of bloodied faces and bruised bodies.

Reportedly, no Cossacks have yet been arrested for the unprovoked attack.

The news comes after the group was arrested for questioning upon entering the region on Tuesday (Russian time).

Police held members for three hours to answer questions about a theft at a local hotel before releasing them.

Pussy Riot told their captors they were in town to perform and potentially record a video for the song Putin will teach you to love the Motherland.

Members said the tune was in honour of ‘prisoners of the swamp [a 2012 violent political protest in Moscow’s Bolotnaya Square], corrupt Olympics, ecologist Vitishko and suppressed freedoms in Russia’.

The International Olympic Committee has instructed Pussy Riot not to utilise the Sochi Olympic park for political protest.

‘If they did it would be wholly inappropriate,’ IOC spokesman, Mark Adams said.

However, the band has been photographed – allegedly after the Cossack attack – performing next to Olympic Rings of the Sochi administrative offices.