The Pussy Riot punk collective said one of its members has departed for the UK, despite being banned from leaving Russia.
Maria Alekhina had said she was turned back by Russian border police on Wednesday when she tried to leave the country for a performance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, based on her book.
On Thursday, the group said on Twitter that she “has found a way to escape, and she is flying to Edinburgh right now!”
Despite the official ban to leave Russia, Masha Alyokhina has found a way to escape, and she is flying to Edinburgh right now! Our residency with Riot Days Show at the Edinburgh Fringe begins on 10th! Until 19th daily! On stage at 8:45-9:30. Tickets: https://t.co/eEGoTXe7fM
— ????? ???? (@pussyrrriot) August 9, 2018
Russian authorities claimed that Ms Alekhina had failed to carry out community service.
She was given 140 hours of community service for protests outside the Moscow headquarters of the Federal Security Service.
In December, she unfurled a banner reading “Happy Birthday, Hangmen!” and in April she threw paper planes to protest the agency’s demand to shut the messaging service Telegram.
Ms Alekhina and Pussy Riot bandmate Nadezhda Tolokonnikova spent nearly two years in prison for a 2012 protest inside Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.
