How specifically galling that Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova has been denied parole, despite having completed half of her sentence, on the grounds that she refused to take part in a prison beauty contest (as reported by The Times this weekend). Can this even be true? Pussy Riot’s political stance takes aim at precisely this kind of institutional sexism, so Tolokonnikova is effectively being persecuted for her opposition twice. Hugely disappointing.
I simply cannot resist posting this somewhat absurd piece in response, flagged by Leonid Ragozin on Twitter today, despite its purely conjectural nature: activist group, the People’s Movement of Ukraine, are attempting to fuel a rumour that Patriarch Kirill was involved in a duty-free liquor trade in the 90s, by taking five litres of vodka to a protest at a hotel where he is currently staying. Sounds too good to be true, although hypocrisy does have a way of popping up in the most obvious places…