--- description: Pussy Riot is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century. title: Pussy Riot: 100 Women of the Year image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8da7bfe0aa5c7d47/698a0ae622fb85407ce2aaa2/social-2012_Pussy-Riot.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 2012: Pussy Riot Mar 5, 2020 11:42 AM CUT  Buy the cover art→ Buy the cover art→Illustration by Neil Jamieson for TIME; Sergey Ponomarev—AP by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 5, 2020 11:42 AM CUT With colorful ski masks, explicit lyrics and mosh pit–ready dance moves, the feminist collective known as [Pussy Riot](https://time.com/5442791/pussy-riot-russia-poisoning-olga-kyrachyova-veronika-nikulshina/ "undefined") grew out of the protest movement that peaked in Moscow in early 2012, the first street-level challenge to the reign of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The group’s [viral videos](https://time.com/4118176/pussy-riot-dismaland-refugees-in/ "undefined") mixed punk rock and performance art into a powerful form of rebellion, and it became an icon of the anti-Putin movement when three of its members were put on trial that summer. The charges against them were “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred or hostility.” Their crime was a performance, which they called a “punk prayer,” near the altar of Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Its title was “Virgin Mary, chase Putin away!” [**Buy the cover art→**](https://fineartamerica.com/featured/pussy-riot-2012-time.html "undefined") Two of them—Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Maria Alyokhina, 24—were sentenced to [three years in prison](https://time.com/3806194/pussy-riots-next-act-exclusive-photos-of-life-after-prison/ "undefined") for the stunt. (Yekaterina Samutsevich received a suspended sentence.) Their public show trial forced a reckoning in Russia, an era-defining clash between Putin and a new generation of his subjects, who were rising up against his version of autocracy and demanding democratic change. That moment hasn’t arrived yet, but [Pussy Riot’s message](https://time.com/4234/pussy-riots-next-fight/ "undefined") of defiance still inspires young women in Russia and far beyond. _—Simon Shuster_  Tolokonnikova, Alyokhina and Samutsevich during a Moscow hearing in August 2012.Natalia Kolesnikova—AFP/Getty Images --- _This article is part of_ [_100 Women of the Year_](https://time.com/100-women-of-the-year/ "undefined")_, TIME’s list of the most influential women of the past century. Read more_ [_about the project_](https://time.com/5793734/time-100-women-of-the-year-issue/ "undefined")_, explore the_ [_100 covers_](https://time.com/5793732/time-100-women-of-the-year-covers/ "undefined") _and sign up for our_ [_Inside TIME newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/newsletters?newsletter%5Fname=INSIDE%5FTIME&source=article-woy-footer "undefined") _for more._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5793787/pussy-riot-100-women-of-the-year/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5793787/pussy-riot-100-women-of-the-year/"},"headline":"2012: Pussy Riot","datePublished":"2020-03-05T11:42:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T08:22:06.156Z","description":"Pussy Riot is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century.","url":"https://time.com/5793787/pussy-riot-100-women-of-the-year/","keywords":["Women of the Year"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8da7bfe0aa5c7d47/698a0ae622fb85407ce2aaa2/social-2012_Pussy-Riot.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8da7bfe0aa5c7d47/698a0ae622fb85407ce2aaa2/social-2012_Pussy-Riot.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SOCIAL - Women of the Year: 2012 Pussy-Riot","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5793787/pussy-riot-100-women-of-the-year/","name":"2012: Pussy Riot"}}]}] ```