Pussy Riot band member Maria Alyokhina escapes Russia dressed as meals courier after criticising Putin | World News

Political activist and member of the Russian band Pussy Riot has reportedly fled the nation disguised as a food courier after criticising Vladimir Putin.

Maria Alyokhina and her fellow band members first got here to the attention of the Russian authorities after staging a protest against the Russian president inside Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral in 2012.

Despite being sentenced to two years in jail for their activism, the group continued to talk out against the Kremlin chief, with Ms Alyokhina remaining determined to combat Mr Putin's system.

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After being launched from jail, she continued her activism and arrange a news outlet targeted on crime and punishment in Russia, called Mediazona, with one other member of the band.

In April, Russian authorities placed her below home arrest as they tried to cease those in the country who opposed their invasion of Ukraine.

The 33-year-old was then ordered to spend 21 days in a penal colony.

Nevertheless, the band leader managed to evade the Moscow police by disguising herself as a meals courier and leaving her cellphone behind as a decoy.

She was then in a position to cross into Lithuania after seeking the assistance of an artist from Iceland, who secured her travel paperwork.

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Comparing her story to a "spy novel", Ms Alyokhina instructed The New York Occasions: "I used to be pleased that I made it, because it was an unpredictable and massive kiss-off to the Russian authorities.

"I nonetheless do not perceive utterly what I've done."

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Ms Alyokhina added: "I don't suppose Russia has a proper to exist anymore.

"Even earlier than, there have been questions about how it is united, by what values it is united, and the place it is going. However now I do not suppose that may be a question anymore."

In 2019, fellow bandmate Nadya Tolokonikova spoke to Sky News about her time in a prison camp and protests going down in Russia.