Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina escapes Russia dressed as food delivery courier

A friend drove her to the Belarus border after evading the Moscow police, and days later she managed to cross into Lithuania following several attempts

‘I was happy that I made it, because it was an unpredictable and big ‘kiss-off’ to the Russian authorities,’ the 33-year-old said

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Russian police detain Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina during an unauthorised Moscow rally in 2019. Photo: AFP

Published: 7:56pm, 11 May 2022

Russian punk band Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina has left the country, she said in an interview, after disguising herself as a food delivery courier to escape police.

Alyokhina joins thousands of Russians who have fled their country since President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine on February 24.

In September, Alyokhina was sentenced to one year restricted movement while protesting in support of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, but in April authorities moved to convert her sentence into real jail time.

In an interview with The New York Times late on Tuesday, Alyokhina, 33, described how she dressed up as a food courier to avoid the Moscow police that were staking her out and left her mobile phone behind so she couldn’t be tracked.

Then a friend drove her to the border with neighbouring Belarus and a week later she managed to cross into EU member Lithuania after several attempts, according to the interview.

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