27 Aug 2012

Punk band pair leave Russia

6:34 am on 27 August 2012

Two members of Pussy Riot who are sought by police in Russia have reportedly left the country.

Three members of the punk band were sentenced on 17 August to prison for two years for staging a protest against Vladimir Putin in a cathedral in Moscow.

Maria Alyokhina, 24, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Yekaterina Samutsevich 29, were found guilty of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred"

The husband of one of the women said the duo who fled, took part in the cathedral protest on 21 February.

The group's Twitter account said: "Two of our members have successfully fled the country! They are recruiting foreign feminists to prepare new actions!"