UPDATE 1:12pm EST: The video has been removed.
UPDATE 1:24pm EST: And here is another clip.
Raw video of punk rock group Pussy Riot being physically attacked by Russia’s Cossack militia has surfaced. The group were protesting at the Winter Olympics in Sochi earlier this week when they were approached with force by Russian officials. The video above shows the attack.
According to Pitchfork: “The incident began when the Pussy Riot members exited a Sochi restaurant sporting their trademark balaclavas and tried to start performing. They were swarmed by about a dozen Cossacks, according to reports, and one guitar was smashed. Nobody was arrested once the police arrived.”
Pitchfork also cites a line from a recent article about the return of the Cossack militia: “Cossacks have emerged as a kind of mascot [for Putin’s ideology]… These days men in Cossack uniforms are making appearances all over Russia, carrying out blustery raids of art exhibits, museums, and theaters as standard-bearers for a resurgent church.”
[h/t pitchfork]