Within a week of her release, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova of punk collective Pussy Riot slammed Putin’s government and joined calls for a boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympics.
Tolokonnikova said Friday that she believes she and her bandmate were only freed from a Russian penal colony as a P.R. stunt by the government in advance of the games.
LGBTQ activists around the world have criticized participation in the Olympics in light of Russia’s anti-gay laws.
“With the Olympics approaching, Vladimir Vladimirovich (Putin) does not want his favorite project ruined,” Tolokonnikova told a news conference. “The thaw has nothing to do with humanism. The authorities only did this under pressure from both Russian and Western society,” she commented.
