Podcast Then & Now #37: Teresa Cherfas in conversation with Maria Alekhina and Olga Borisova

3 December 2025by Teresa CherfasWelcome to the 37th edition of our Russian-language podcast Then & Now with me, Teresa Cherfas.Maria Alekhina, is a founding member of the Pussy Riot art collective. Pussy Riot’s performance, in February 2012, when they sang their Punk Prayer in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, led to the arrest of three of them, including Alekhina herself.  They were sentenced to two years in a penal colony.Olga Borisova, is also a member of Pussy Riot, but joined much later. Political Girl:Life and Fate in Russia is Maria Alekhina’s account of the years since her release in 2014 up until she left Russia shortly after the invasion of Ukraine.  Olga Borisova helped in the writing of it.  Their book was recently published in English translation in the United Kingdom. We are indebted to Emily Eccles, the translator of Political Girl, for facilitating this podcast with Maria and Olga.This podcast was recorded on 30 November 2025. Photo credit: Pussy Riot.Teresa's Questions:How did you become a “Political Girl”? Were you born a “political girl,” or did life make you one?Olga, what about you? Tell us about your path to Pussy Riot. (How did you become friends with Masha?)Masha, is it true that you and your two other Pussy Riot offenders were the first political prisoners in Putin’s Russia? Was it a shock for you to be arrested and sentenced?Why is feminism such an important element of Pussy Riot’s philosophy? And why is it so threatening to an authoritarian regime? (Feminism is a ‘mortal sin,’ according to the judge at your trial.)Masha, you wrote that when you were released from prison a couple of months early, thanks to Putin’s amnesty before the Olympic Games in Sochi, you found yourself in a different country. Please explain.Tell us about your performance in Sochi with other members of Pussy Riot, very soon after your release. Masha, you travelled to Kyiv to show solidarity with the Maidan protesters in 2014. How do you explain the difference between Ukrainians and Russians — why is it that Russians seem more passive and don’t protest en masse?Your book describes the constant surveillance, humiliation, persecution, and repression that accompanied you everywhere and always. Where did you find the strength to continue resisting the authorities?Do revolutionaries have special qualities? Would you describe yourself as a ‘revolutionary’, Masha? What about you, Olya?What is it that motivates you and makes you willing to sacrifice so much for? I hadn’t realised that Pussy Riot created Mediazona, an independent media outlet. How does it differ from other independent media outlets? What is its mission?You have often said that Putin’s third term as president was a point of no return for Russia. How did this happen, in your view?Your book is in English and seems to be written for a Western readership. What are the main things you wanted to convey or communicate to the West? The book has an entire chapter about the seemingly endless cycle of arrests and detentions you experienced. (You found both “good” and “bad” people among those who guarded you.) You have said that the whole of Russia can be found in these detention centres. What did you mean by that?When did you realize that there would be a full-scale war with Ukraine? Tell us about your thoughts in February 2022. How did you decide whether to stay or leave?It has been more than three years since you arrived in the West. How do you perceive the actions of Western countries towards Russia?And how do you see their actions to defend their own democracy?Do you believe in change in Russia? What kind of change?Exactly ten years after your performance of the “Punk Prayer” in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Putin announced the ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine. It seems that the Pussy Riot affair became a marker of what could be expected from Putin’s Russia: first there was the illegal annexation of Crimea, then increasingly harsh punitive measure against any dissent from the regime, and finally the full-scale war against Ukraine. What does it feel like to be a historical figure?