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 country disguised as a food courier after criticising Vladimir Putin.

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

Regardless of being sentenced to two years in prison for his or her activism, the group continued to talk out in opposition to the Kremlin leader, with Ms Alyokhina remaining determined to fight Mr Putin's system.

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

In April, Russian authorities placed her underneath home arrest as they tried to stop those in the nation who opposed their invasion of Ukraine.

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

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

She was then capable of cross into Lithuania after searching for the help of an artist from Iceland, who secured her travel documents.

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Comparing her story to a "spy novel", Ms Alyokhina advised The New York Occasions: "I used to be comfortable that I made it, as a result of it was an unpredictable and big kiss-off to the Russian authorities.

"I nonetheless don't understand completely what I've completed."

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Ms Alyokhina added: "I do not suppose Russia has a proper to exist anymore.

"Even earlier than, there were questions about how it's united, by what values it is united, and the place it's going. However now I do not assume that may be a query anymore."

In 2019, fellow bandmate Nadya Tolokonikova spoke to Sky Information about her time in a jail camp and protests happening in Russia.