Pussy Riot activist blocked from leaving Russia for Edinburgh Fringe

A key member of art activist group Pussy Riot has been barred from leaving Russia after taking part in a protest in central Moscow.

Maria Alyokhina was stopped from boarding a plane to the UK by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) on Wednesday. She had been due to perform a show based on her book, Riot Days, for a nine-night stint at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

The artists tweeted fans from Moscow’s Domodedovo airport, telling them that, “the FSB told me I’m barred from leaving the country.”

послезавтра первый спектакль по моей книжке Riot Days на фесте в Эдинбурге

но в аэропорту ребята из погранслужбы ФСБ сказали, что мне закрыт выезд из страны

такие дела �� pic.twitter.com/nD4PkoWHV1

— Мария Алехина (@all_mary) August 8, 2018

In a later statement, authorities said Alyokhina has been temporarily blacklisted for failing to carry out community service imposed after being detained for two “unapproved protests” outside FSB headquarters in central Moscow. Both of the demonstrations, in December 2017 and April 2018, rallied against the Kremlin’s ongoing crackdown on encrypted messaging app Telegram.

Alyokhina has been a key member of Pussy Riot since they hit mainstream fame in 2012, spending two years in prison after taking part in the group’s Punk Prayer in the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow. The group saw a ressurgence in 2018, gatcrashing the World Cup final with a poetry-inspired pitch invasion and protesting against conditions in the Russian justice system.