Pussy Riot return in new music video taking on Putin

MOSCOW – Russian provocateurs Pussy Riot are back in action, releasing a new music video nearly a year after three members went to prison for a prank denouncing Vladimir Putin.

The video shows band members in trademark bright-colored ski masks and short skirts, cavorting and shrieking atop an oil rig. Backed by hectic guitar and a drum fusillade, they liken the Russian president to an Iranian ayatollah.

As they pour oil on a large photo of Igor Sechin, chairman of state oil giant Rosneft, they shout “Homophobic reptile — get out of history.”

One member of the collective, who gave only her stage name of Grelka, said after the video’s Tuesday release that “the main message is that Putin has spread the country’s wealth among his friends.”

Three members were sentenced to two years for an anti-Putin “punk prayer” in Moscow’s main cathedral. One was later released on probation.

The convictions, on the charge of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred, sparked widespread criticism of Russia as suppressing free speech and opposition.