Two members of the Russian protest and performance art band Pussy Riot are on course to become citizens of Iceland after fleeing their homeland. Maria Alyokhina and Lucy Shtein are on a list of people to receive fast-tracked citizenship through parliamentary decree, reports Iceland Review. After Russia invaded Ukraine last year, Shtein, who was already under house arrest, decided it was time to get out of the country and dodged surveillance of her Moscow home by dressing in a food courier's outfit. Alyokhina, her girlfriend, later used the same outfit to escape.
Bryndís Haraldsdóttir, chairman of the citizenship committee, said members decided to grant the pair citizenship as an act of protest against Russia, the Reykjavik Grapevine reports. Long before the invasion of Ukraine, members of Pussy Riot were targeted by Russian authorities for their protests against Vladimir Putin's policies. Some served time in prison. On Saturday, members of the group including Alyokhina visited Tulsa to accept the Woody Guthrie award from Nora Guthrie, the singer's daughter, the Tulsa World reports.
"As artists who, like Woody Guthrie, have the courage of their convictions, there are no contemporary artists more worthy of this recognition than Pussy Riot,” said Cady Shaw, director of the Woody Guthrie Center, per the World. "They have paid a very personal price for speaking their minds on the most serious issues of our time, yet they continue to fight for justice and freedom." Another member, Nadya Tolokonnikova, has been placed on Russia's criminal wanted list, though she is believed to live in the US. (More Pussy Riot stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
