Maria Alyokhina, artist, activist and member of Pussy Riot, has witnessed first-hand Russia’s descent into authoritarianism. Join us for an evening with Maria as she discusses her new book, Political Girl: Life and Fate in Russia (translated by Emily Eccles), a blend of memoir and reportage that explores what it means to protest, create and survive when dissent is criminalised. The conversation will be moderated by Natalia Baranova, a journalist, feminist activist and radical educator.
Political Girl begins with Maria’s release from prison after performing Pussy Riot’s infamous Punk Prayer, only to find an even more oppressive Russia just weeks before the 2014 invasion of Ukraine. As society adjusts to increasingly repressive realities over the following years, Maria brings us into the world of resistance: grassroots protests, political art actions, and networks of solidarity. Activists and dissidents contend with a complicit police force and a weaponised legal system, as the state escalates its absurd and violent measures to suppress even small acts of defiance, making normal life impossible. Finally, as the state wages a full-scale war against Ukraine and its own citizens, Maria is forced to flee Russia in disguise as a food delivery courier.
With freedom of speech in Russia at its most precarious since Soviet times, Political Girl is both an intimate portrait of life under repression and a vital record of protest on the ground in Russia since 2014. Drawing on her experiences at the intersection of feminism, art and activism, Maria will discuss how she became a “political girl”, strategies of resistance, and the current landscape of protest in Russia.
Maria “Masha” Alyokhina is a Russian political artist, activist and veteran member of Pussy Riot. In August 2012, she was sentenced to two years' imprisonment for the anti-Putin Punk Prayer performance at Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. She continued her activism in prison, and was released in December 2013 under an amnesty by Putin in the run-up to the Sochi Olympic Games.
In 2014, Alyokhina, Nadya Tolokonnikova and Peter Verzilov founded Mediazona, an independent outlet covering Russia’s judicial, law enforcement and penal systems. From 2017–2018, she staged the play Burning Doors with Belarus Free Theatre, supporting imprisoned Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov. Alyokhina continued to protest and stage Pussy Riot actions in Russia, enduring repeated detentions, beatings, travel bans, and surveillance.
In 2021, Alyokhina faced new charges over an Instagram post supporting Alexei Navalny. She spent 18 months under house arrest before fleeing Russia – still wearing her electronic tag – two months after the start of the full-scale war, to support Ukraine. In September 2025, Alyokhina and four Pussy Riot members were convicted in absentia for anti-war activism; she received a 13-year sentence. A recipient of the Lennon Ono Grant for Peace, the Hannah Arendt Prize for Political Thought and Woody Guthrie Award, she continues to perform protest concerts and support Ukraine.
Her first book, Riot Days (2018) is an account of her arrest, trial and imprisonment; her second book is Political Girl: Life and Fate in Russia (November 2025), both published by Penguin.
Natalia Baranova is a journalist, feminist activist, radical educator, and research assistant at the Centre for Women, Peace and Security at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She has been working with the Russian civil society sector for over ten years, contributing as a journalist for internet platforms 7x7, Takie Dela, Team 29, and as a content producer for the leading educational project Teplitsa. Technology for Social Good. Natalia leads an independent community initiative called "Experiencing Activism" and manages a Telegram channel focused on preventing burnout and promoting community care. Her main areas of work include combating gender-based violence, trauma-informed policymaking, resisting Russian anti-gender politics, and advocating for just and sustainable peace. She was labelled as a "foreign agent" by the Russian government and placed on the wanted list. Currently, in her hometown of Kirov (Vyatka), she faces a court case for failing to comply with the foreign agent law.
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