Pussy Riot burn giant portrait of Vladimir Putin and warn ‘you cannot silence us’

A dozen members of the group from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus took part in the video, and told the Russian leader: ‘You can take away our freedom, but you cannot silence us.’

They urged their fans to ‘join our movement against the most dangerous living dictator on the planet’.

The video was arranged by 33-year-old Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, a Russian exile who was jailed in 2012 for her part in a major protest against Putin held in a Moscow cathedral.

More recently, the group disrupted the 2018 Fifa World Cup finals, which were being held in Moscow. One of the protesters jailed following this demonstration was subsequently the victim of a suspected poisoning.

In the new short film called Putin’s Ashes, the group press a button which ‘neutralizes Vladimir Putin’, and sets fire to an image of him.

The ‘ashes’ of this image are then placed in small jars.

The powerful lyrics of the song talk of getting revenge on Putin, and use strong religious imagery and references:

‘We will find you everywhere

‘Your ashes are smouldering in the dark

‘I’m not myself and you’re not yourself

‘Putin’s ghost is with me

Source of data and images: metro