"Hello everyone from Luzhniki field, it's cool here!" So
tweeted Pussy Riot after claiming responsibility for four people who rushed the World Cup final field Sunday in Moscow, the
Washington Post reports. The one man and three women briefly stopped play by appearing in police uniforms, with one getting France forward Kylian Mbappe to give her a high-five. It's unclear why they wore police uniforms—to sneak onto the field unnoticed or protest Russian police—but a
Pussy Riot Facebook post includes criticism of Russian police officers, per
Rolling Stone: "Today is 11 years since the death of the great Russian poet, Dmitriy Prigov," they write, who "created an image of a policeman, a carrier of the heavenly nationhood, in the Russian culture."
But while the "heavenly policeman" communicates with God, protects babies, and "rises as an example of nationhood," they write, real officers hurt people and disperse rallies. The protest group, which achieved renown in 2012 for criticizing Vladimir Putin, goes on to make a list of demands:
- Let all political prisoners free.
- Not imprison for "likes."
- Stop Illegal arrests at rallies.
- Allow political competition in the country.
- Not fabricate criminal accusations and not keep people in jails for no reason.
- Turn the earthly policeman into the heavenly policeman.
Moscow officials said the "citizens in question were taken to the local police station." FIFA briefly showed their protest on the field but hasn't responded to calls from reporters. (More
Russia stories.)
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