Pussy Riot's Nadya Tolokonnikova Makes Russia's Most Wanted

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Reviewed by the Associated Press, independent news outlet Mediazona (which was founded by Pussy Riot) discovered an entry for Tolokonnikova on the Russian Interior Ministry’s database of wanted individuals for unspecified criminal charges. Russian human rights lawyer, Pavel Chikov, had previously indicated earlier in the month that Tolokonnikova was facing charges for offending people with religious beliefs stemming from an NFT she sold in September 2021 depicting the Virgin Mary in the form of a vagina.

Translations of court documents accuse Tolokonnikova of creating "a publication containing signs of insult, an expression of obvious disrespect in relation to the icon image The Virgin Mary, depicted in an obscene form, so that the image is perceived as outwardly similar to the anatomical details of the female external genitalia, that is, it visually repeats them, thereby expressing disrespect, disregard for the image revered in Christianity."

Tolokonnikova is alleged to be in violation of a part of the Russian criminal code that was put in place as a response to Pussy Riot's 2012 piece "Punk Prayer" which saw the group stage an anti-Putin protest outside Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral, criminalizing any sort of act that could be considered offensive to those with religious beliefs. Tolokonnikova spent nearly two years in a labor camp for her involvement with "Punk Prayer" as a result.

The decision to push charges now seems largely be a response to Pussy Riot's latest exhibition Putin's Ashes which recently went on view at Jeffrey Deitch Gallery. The performance piece involving Tolokonnikova and twelve other women who are described as having an acute hatred of Putin burning a ten foot by ten foot portrait of the Russian president, collecting the ashes and casting spells aimed at chasing him away. Since the show was first announced earlier this year, Tolokonnikova's Instagram has become the target of death threats by pro-Putin trolls and has seen other members of Pussy Riot targeted by foreign officials.

In a statement, Tolokonnikova points out that the case was largely left alone at first: “The courts will sit on these records until they want to do something about it, or something bigger comes up. I announced Putin’s Ashes at Jeffrey Deitch’s Gallery, and received attention from The New Yorker, LA Times and other large western media. *Coincidentally* my instagram vanished and this new criminal case was announced within a week of the show. Police detained friends and family, and my lawyers sent me the documents they found.”

She goes on to add, “Any truly political artist risks their personal safety for the sake of their art… It is not a new concept for me. They threaten us but we cannot show fear. I will use the tools I have as an artist and crypto enthusiast to keep fighting. I’m not a soldier, I’m an artist, art is my weapon. Glad to see they are scared.”

Photo Courtesy of Pussy Riot