Pussy Riot band member Maria Alyokhina escapes Russia dressed as meals courier after criticising Putin | World Information

Political activist and member of the Russian band Pussy Riot has reportedly fled the country disguised as a food courier after criticising Vladimir Putin.

Maria Alyokhina and her fellow band members first came to the attention of the Russian authorities after staging a protest against the Russian president inside Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral in 2012.

Regardless of being sentenced to 2 years in jail for his or her activism, the group continued to talk out against the Kremlin leader, with Ms Alyokhina remaining determined to fight Mr Putin's system.

Russian air defences struck by Bayraktar drones - live updates on Ukraine war

After being released from jail, she continued her activism and set up a news outlet centered on crime and punishment in Russia, known as Mediazona, with another member of the band.

In April, Russian authorities positioned her underneath home arrest as they tried to cease these in the country who opposed their invasion of Ukraine.

The 33-year-old was then ordered to spend 21 days in a penal colony.

Nevertheless, the band leader managed to evade the Moscow police by disguising herself as a meals courier and leaving her phone behind as a decoy.

She was then in a position to cross into Lithuania after seeking the assistance of an artist from Iceland, who secured her travel documents.

Read more:
Biden fears Putin has no exit technique from Ukraine
Physique language expert gives evaluation of Putin's behaviour

Evaluating her story to a "spy novel", Ms Alyokhina instructed The New York Occasions: "I used to be glad that I made it, because it was an unpredictable and big kiss-off to the Russian authorities.

"I nonetheless don't understand utterly what I've done."

Subscribe to Ukraine Struggle Diaries on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and Spreaker

Ms Alyokhina added: "I don't think Russia has a proper to exist anymore.

"Even before, there have been questions on how it is united, by what values it's united, and where it is going. However now I do not suppose that is a question anymore."

In 2019, fellow bandmate Nadya Tolokonikova spoke to Sky News about her time in a prison camp and protests going down in Russia.