Help us keep the lights on Support us
The Bristol Cable

Vladimir, vapes and defending democracy: when the Cable met Pussy Riot in BS3

Celebrating the subversive, we spent an evening with the legendary Russian dissidents to get behind the balaclavas to discuss all things protest.

Olga and Maria at a recent Altered States event
Features

“There’s only one word for cock in Russian, you know.” As if interviewing Pussy Riot wasn’t surreal enough, this is the part of their conversation I walk into. 

When the Cable was invited to interview Olga (Olya) Borsinova and Maria (Masha) Alyokhina, two members of the group, we were hesitant. 

The Bristol link feels tangential at best. But it’s not everyday that a world-famous Russian dissident punk band collective comes to your hometown. We’d make it work. 

Which is how I find myself, one warm summer evening, walking into a Southville pub to meet them, and arriving slap bang in the middle of a discussion on Russian phallic taxonomy.

This introduction is fitting: the firebrand collective has long blended their protest with the profane and provocative, fiercely critical of Vladimir Putin’s repressive regime.

The pair roar with laughter at my ill-timed arrival: “That has to be the first line of your article!” I promise them it will be. 

Living on a Punk Prayer

Pussy Riot started at the end of 2011 as a wave of anti-Putin protests swept Russia. “But we did this with a feminist style,” Masha explains. 

The group staged illegal, guerilla gigs performing protest songs and uploading the videos to the internet, clad in now iconic bright balaclavas and tights. 

In 2012, they caught the world’s attention for storming a Moscow Cathedral to perform their song ‘Punk Prayer’, calling out the corruption in church and state. 

We didn’t see much of Bristol – but we did find this great vape shop here!

“The church leader is an influential KGB agent just wearing robes and calling Putin the ‘miracle of Russia’!” Olya explains. “You could rent it out as a party venue – with smoke machines and bubbles –and it would be tax free because it’s a church!”

The video went viral, and their arrest shone a spotlight on the human rights abuses in the country. 

Masha was convicted of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred”. She was sentenced to two years in prison and transported to a penal colony in the Urals. Her book Riot Days chronicles her time there, somehow managing to be as darkly hilarious as it is harrowing.

Masha met Olya later in 2015, who helped edit the book. “I was from St Petersburg and I was working as a cop, before I realised I was on the wrong side!” she says. 

The tone of the book is exactly as they speak: dry, matter of fact, sarcastic. “It’s the Russian sense of humour!” they explain. 

The missing Bristol link 

The three of us cast around for the Bristol link. Have they seen much of the city, I ask? “No – we have to finish this fucking text!” says Masha. 

The pair have been speaking at an event called ‘Democracy in Crisis in the age of Putin and Trump’ at the Hen and Chicken on North Street. They’re staying in South Wales with their translator, working on the next book about Masha’s release from the penal colony in 2014.

“We’re going to show what was happening inside the country during this time, and the crazy goal of Putin,” Olya explains.  

“But we did find this great vape shop here!” she adds, both women becoming very animated. “This country prohibits vapes over 600 puffs – but we managed to find a way to put two pieces together and now it’s 5000 puffs!” 

We’ve found our link. Sure, they’d supported the Colston statue topplers and the Kill the Bill protesters, but at a small vape shop in Broadmead, the women found their own way to partake in the city’s subversive spirit. 

But thinking outside the box has been crucial to Masha’s survival. This is a woman who escaped house arrest by dressing as the Russian equivalent of a Deliveroo rider. 

‘I have to protest wherever I can’ 

In the penal colony, Masha worked in the factory six days a week sewing army uniforms for €3 a month. About 80-100 women slept in one room, in freezing temperatures.

There was collective punishment, and regular strip searches. Masha went on hunger strike to protest the conditions, and won. 

“The point of the colony is to kill the personality inside someone,” Masha says. “I just have to protest wherever I can.”

Like the nicotine content of her vapes, Masha’s defiant spirit runs higher than most.

Pussy Riot no longer exists as a defined group, its members now involved in disparate actions. Many are raising awareness and funds for the people of Ukraine, since the Russian invasion of 2022. 

It’s all about “just fighting for freedom and democracy”, says Masha.

“Democracy is not handed down to people forever by God,” she adds. “We have to fight for it, or it will easily collapse.” 

Independent. Investigative. Indispensable.

Investigative journalism strengthens democracy – it’s a necessity, not a luxury.

The Cable is Bristol’s independent, investigative newsroom. Owned and steered by more than 2,500 members, we produce award-winning journalism that digs deep into what’s happening in Bristol.

We are on a mission to become sustainable, and to do that we need more members. Will you help us get there?

Join the Cable today

Keep the Lights On

Investigative journalism strengthens democracy – it’s a necessity, not a luxury.

The Cable is Bristol’s independent, investigative newsroom. Owned and steered by more than 2,600 members, we produce award-winning journalism that digs deep into what’s happening in Bristol.

We are on a mission to become sustainable – will you help us get there?

Join now

What makes us different?

Comments

Post a comment

Mark if this comment is from the author of the article

By posting a comment you agree to our Comment Policy.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related content

Listen: People Just Do Something – Sound against the system – punk, rave and Dave from Faithless

The guitarist from Faithless joins Priyanka and Isaac to reflect on the political power of music from back in the 80s to today.

After the crowdfunder: how can cultural spaces not just survive, but thrive?

In Bristol and elsewhere, campaigns to safeguard arts venues’ future are commonplace – and regularly smash fundraising targets. But the hard work doesn’t stop there.

‘He was our godfather’: Bristol musicians remember Mark Stewart

It’s a year since the Pop Group singer, a revered figure of the post-punk era, died aged 62. Beyond the uncompromising legacy of his own releases, his influence remains etched into his home city’s musical DNA.

When words fail: Meet the Bristol group nurturing male musicians’ mental health

The Seed Sessions project combines counselling and music mentoring to help young men express themselves. We heard from its founder, one of the participants and a counsellor working with the group about the power of music as a therapeutic tool.

Listen: Love Her – how Weekenders made space for women’s music

As part of this series of podcasts about underrepresented parts of Bristol’s history, this is a homage to Weekenders, a women's music night that started in the late 90s.

‘Crazy summers, days of rage’: how Beezer’s camera immortalised 1980s Bristol

Long before the ‘Bristol sound’ label was applied to the potent sonic brew bubbling from the city in the 90s, Andy ‘Beezer’ Beese moved with the bass-heavy beats of the 80s to photograph the era's pulses, parties and protests.

Join our newsletter

Get the essential stories you won’t find anywhere else

Subscribe to the Cable newsletter to get our weekly round-up direct to your inbox every Saturday

Join our newsletter

Subscribe to the Cable newsletter

Get our latest stories & essential Bristol news
sent to your inbox every Saturday morning