Pussy Riot activist arrested at vaccination center in Moscow hours after release from jail
Hours after his release from jail, Pussy Riot activist Alexander Sofeev went to get his second coronavirus vaccine dose. Police officers arrested him as he was exiting the vaccination center at the Gostiny Dvor in downtown Moscow. Pussy Riot members informed Meduza about the arrest.
The law enforcement officers also detained Sofeev’s friend, photographer Dmitry Vorontsov, and Radio Svoboda journalist Andrey Kiselev. All three detainees were taken to the Kitai Gorod police station. The officers didn’t provide a reason for the arrests.
Update. According to Apologia Protesta, Sofeev and Vorontsov are being written up for “petty hooliganism” and will remain at the police station. Lawyer Mansur Gilmanov said that the police have released Radio Svoboda journalist Andrey Kiselev without charges.
Sofeev served 15 days in a special detention center after he was arrested in Moscow on June 22 and charged with public intoxication. Several other Pussy Riot members were arrested alongside their friends that same day.
Among the detainees were Pussy Riot activists Maria Alyokhina and Lyusya Shtein, as well as activist Olga Shalina from the “Other Russia” movement, filmmaker Anna Kuzminykh, and photographer Dmitry Vorontsov. They were all sentenced to 15 days in jail.
Earlier, on June 16, Moscow police detained Pussy Riot activist Veronika Nikulshina. She was also handed a 15-day jail term. Nikulshina was arrested again on July 2 — the day after her release — and sentenced to another 15 days in jail.
Update. Later in the day on Wednesday, Pussy Riot activist Maria Alyokhina was released from a special detention center and arrested immediately.
