Maria Alyokhina
Maria Alyokhina, born 1988, Moscow. Charges: Article 207.3 part 2 items b, d, Russian Criminal Code (Dissemination of false information about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, government…); “Pussy Riot members’ case of “fakes” about the Russian Armed Forces”, opened on September 1, 2024. Sentence (September 15, 2025): 13 years and 15 days' imprisonment, in absentia; previously convicted under Article 236 part 1 applied with Article 33 part 4, Russian Criminal Code; Article 213 part 2, Russian Criminal Code. Status: not in Russia. Recognition: Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners — recognised as a political prisoner, February 24, 2021; Memorial Human Rights Centre — recognised as a political prisoner, February 9, 2021.
In brief
Moscow · Moscow · Artists · Anti-war cases, Cases against "foreign agents", Cases related to mass actions
Sentence
13 years
and 15 days' imprisonment, in absentia.
No information about an appeal ruling.
Other verdicts
- September 10, 2021 — 1 year's restriction of liberty, 21 days remaining in the term to be replaced by imprisonment
- August 16, 2012 — 2 years' imprisonment in a general-regime penal colony
Charges
- Article 236 part 1 applied with Article 33 part 4, Russian Criminal Code — Incitement to violate sanitary and epidemiological regulations (resulting in a mass illness or posing such a threat)
- Article 207.3 part 2 items b, d, Russian Criminal Code — Dissemination of false information about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, government agencies, or mercenaries (using an official position, a group of individuals, falsification of evidence, for selfish motives, or out of hatred)
- Article 213 part 2, Russian Criminal Code
Full wording of the charges
The grounds for the criminal case were the Pussy Riot video Mama, Don’t Watch TV, published on YouTube in 2022: according to the investigation, the video and its English-language commentary formed a “semantic unity” which, “motivated by political hatred”, disseminated knowingly false information about the Russian Armed Forces. The second episode in the case was the group’s participation in a protest action at Munich’s Pinakothek der Moderne art museum on 18 April 2024: according to the investigation, members of Pussy Riot “publicly, as an organised group and motivated by political hatred, shouted slogans about the destruction by Russian Armed Forces of the civilian infrastructure [in Ukraine?] during the special military operation”, and one of them urinated on a portrait of Putin.
Latest event
September 15, 2025 — first-instance verdict
The court delivered a guilty verdict: 13 years.
Recognition by rights defenders
- Recognised as a political prisoner — Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners, February 24, 2021
- Recognised as a political prisoner — Memorial Human Rights Centre, February 9, 2021
- Recognised as a political prisoner — Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners, December 22, 2013
- Recognised as a political prisoner — Memorial Human Rights Centre, April 15, 2012
- Recognised as a prisoner of conscience — Amnesty International, April 2, 2012
- Recognised as a political prisoner — Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners
Timeline
· First-instance verdict
guilty verdict · 13 years
· Preventive measure: arrest in absentia
· Criminal case opened
Pussy Riot members’ case of “fakes” about the Russian Armed Forces
· Court ruling
· First-instance verdict
guilty verdict
· Recognised as a political prisoner
Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners
· Recognised as a political prisoner
Memorial Human Rights Centre
· Preventive measure: house arrest
· Criminal case opened
Maria Alyokhina's case
· Preventive measure: placement in a temporary detention facility
TDF No. 1 of the Main Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in Moscow
· Recognised as a political prisoner
Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners
· Persecution ends
· Appeal ruling
upheld
· First-instance verdict
guilty verdict · 2 years
· Recognised as a political prisoner
Memorial Human Rights Centre
· Recognised as a prisoner of conscience
Amnesty International
· Persecution begins
The Pussy Riot case
Criminal case
Pussy Riot members’ case of “fakes” about the Russian Armed Forces
- Case number
- 01-0454/2025
Other defendants in the case
- Olga Borisova — Not in Russia, 8 years
- Diana Burkot — Not in Russia, 8 years
- Alina Petrova — Not in Russia, 8 years
- Taso Pletner — Location unknown, 11 years
Thematic group: Anti-war case
The Pussy Riot case
Other defendants in the case
- Nadezhda Tolokonnikova — Not in Russia, 2 years
Thematic group: The Pussy Riot case
Maria Alyokhina's case
Thematic group: Palace case; Sanitary case
Details and sources
Full summary
Pussy Riot participant, co-founder of Mediazona and Zona Prava, an organisation dedicated to the protection of prisoners' rights.
On 4 March 2012, she was detained on suspicion of participation in the action of the punk group Pussy Riot in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. After the detention she went on hunger strike for some time. She was sent to a pre-trial detention centre. During the investigation she was on hunger strike for some time due to the extension of the detention period. She was found guilty of hooliganism and sentenced to two years' imprisonment in a general regime colony. During her stay in a colony in Perm Krai, she went on hunger strike for some time due to the harsh conditions of detention. She was denied parole.
On 23 December 2013, Alyokhina was amnestied.
On 27 January 2021, Alyokhina was detained as part of a criminal case for violation of sanitary and epidemiological rules, and her flat was searched. On 29 January, the court sent Alyokhina under house arrest. Later she was charged with incitement to violate the rules.
On 10 September, she was sentenced to a year of restricted freedom. On 21 April 2022, due to the fact that Alyokhina cut off the electronic bracelet she was wearing, the court commuted her remaining sentence of 21 days to imprisonment. Alyokhina did not appear at the trial, and on 26 April it became known that she was wanted.
In September 2024, Alyokhina, along with four other members of Pussy Riot, was put on a wanted list in the case of spreading deliberately false information about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The reason was the clip "Mum, don't watch TV" and an anti-war action in a Munich museum.
On 15 September 2025, the court sentenced her in absentia to 13 years and 15 days in a general regime colony.
All fields of the record
- Citizenship
- Russia
- Preventive measures
- arrest in absentia
- Persecution episodes
- 3
Sources (5)
- Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners — Recognised as a political prisoner
- Memorial Human Rights Centre — Recognised as a political prisoner
- Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners — Recognised as a political prisoner
- Memorial Human Rights Centre — Recognised as a political prisoner
- Amnesty International — Recognised as a prisoner of conscience
Other people prosecuted under Article 207.3 part 2 items b, d, Russian Criminal Code
Under the same article, not necessarily in the same case.