Pussy Riot’s Maria Alyokhina on Russian prisons and living in exile

Maria Alyokhina, founding member of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot, joins Vitaly in the Ukrainecast studio to talk about her experience in detention and her escape from the country disguised as a delivery driver. What does she make of the current Russian opposition movement, and will Russia always feel like home? She also talks about her book, Political Girl. Also this week, Victoria and Vitaly discuss reports of a rift, denied by Russia, between Vladimir Putin and one of his most loyal advisors, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaly Shevchenko. The producers were Laurie Kalus and Julia Webster. The technical producers were Ricardo McCarthy and Ben Andrews. The social producer was Sophie Millward. The series producer is Chris Flynn. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham. Email Ukrainecast@bbc.co.uk with your questions and comments. You can also send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram to +44 330 1239480 You can join the Ukrainecast discussion on Newscast’s Discord server here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord

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Pussy Riot’s Maria Alyokhina on Russian prisons and living in exile is an episode from Ukrainecast by BBC.

This episode is 38:20 long.

This episode was published on Nov 11, 2025.

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