The Russian activist punk group Pussy Riot created a Twitter account on Tuesday at @pussyrrriot, and is tweeting for the first time in English:
Russia is not China or Iran YET, so since we can still use Twitter, we will give a shot at running it in English, so hi to everyone here!— Pussy Riot (@pussyrrriot) May 6, 2014
Group members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova (@tolokno) and Maria Alekhina (@MashaAlekhina), who have become the faces of Pussy Riot, have been tweeting in Russian for a while, but they're now looking to spread their message to English-speaking audiences.
If you want to dig deep and read Russian, check out @tolokno for Nadya and @mashaalekhina for Masha. Get those online translators running!— Pussy Riot (@pussyrrriot) May 6, 2014
On Tuesday, Tolokonnikova and Alekhina were on Capitol Hill petitioning senators on the Foreign Relations Committee for more sanctions against Russia. The two activists shared firsthand accounts of human rights violations under President Vladimir Putin and requested 16 more names be added to the list of Russian human rights abusers who face sanctions -- including Russia's interior minister, Vladimir Kolokoltsev.
They also weighed in on the case of Cecily McMillan, an Occupy Wall Street protester who was convicted this week in a New York state court of assaulting a police officer during the March 2012 protests -- she's facing up to seven years in prison.
The group tweeted a call to action to their English followers: "it's time to start our own, american Pussy Riot."
We are hoping that Manhattan court will not convict Cecily McMillan to prison term. Anyway,it's time to start your own, american Pussy Riot.— Pussy Riot (@pussyrrriot) May 7, 2014
Meanwhile, back home in Russia, Putin signed a new law this week banning curse words in film, books and music. With lyrics like “Bless our festering bastard-boss,” and “Shit, shit, the Lord's shit!” perhaps it's no wonder Pussy Riot is branching out.