Pussy Riot’s Maria Alyokhina on Russian prisons and living in exile
Ukrainecast
BBC
4.7 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 11 November 2025
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Maria Alyokhina, founding member of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot, joins Vitaly in the Ukrainecast studio to talk about her experience in detention and her escape from the country disguised as a delivery driver.
What does she make of the current Russian opposition movement, and will Russia always feel like home?
She also talks about her book, Political Girl.
Also this week, Victoria and Vitaly discuss reports of a rift, denied by Russia, between Vladimir Putin and one of his most loyal advisors, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaly Shevchenko.
The producers were Laurie Kalus and Julia Webster. The technical producers were Ricardo McCarthy and Ben Andrews. The social producer was Sophie Millward. The series producer is Chris Flynn. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.
Email Ukrainecast@bbc.co.uk with your questions and comments. You can also send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram to +44 330 1239480
You can join the Ukrainecast discussion on Newscast’s Discord server here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:07.4 | We definitely do not have quiet days anymore in American politics. |
| 0:12.5 | Our podcast will help you cut through all the noise. |
| 0:15.9 | Make sense of what's happening in the US, with new podcast episodes arriving throughout the week. |
| 0:20.8 | AmeriCast, Listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:24.5 | Hello, it's 1,357 days since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. |
| 0:30.8 | And Vitaly, you have had a very interesting conversation with a very interesting woman. |
| 0:36.2 | I did. I think it's one of those |
| 0:39.2 | interviews that will stay with me for a long time. The woman I spoke to is called Maria Alojina |
| 0:46.0 | and our listeners, at least some of our listeners, will remember her as one of the founding members |
| 0:52.0 | of the Russian feminist punk group called Pussy Riot. |
| 1:00.0 | And they shot to prominence back in 2012 when they staged what they called a punk prayer in Moscow's main cathedral. |
| 1:26.7 | The lyrics were kind of tongue in cheek and they begged Mary to banish Putin from Russia. |
| 1:31.8 | I think they performed in Christ the Saviour Cathedral for less than a minute. |
| 1:32.7 | Because they got stopped. |
| 1:34.0 | They got stopped, of course. |
| 1:38.7 | And that was enough to send them to jail for two years. And we know, because you've talked about it before on Ukraine cast, |
| 1:42.4 | I can't remember when, but we know you like your music. |
| 1:45.2 | I do. |
| 1:46.2 | And do you like your punk music? |
| 1:49.2 | I listened to a lot of Russian punk back in the day. |
| 1:54.1 | Grodzhanzka Barona, civil defense, things like Janka Degeliva. |
... |
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