21 Feb 2014

Pussy 'Rioters' released in Sochi

9:22 am on 21 February 2014

Two members of the Russian protest group Pussy Riot arrested near the Winter Olympics resort of Sochi on Monday have been released.

Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova were being held on suspicion of theft.

The Pussy Riot pair on their release in Sochin.

The Pussy Riot pair on their release in Sochin. Photo: AFP

The two band members and three other women emerged from the police station in Sochi wearing their trademark ski masks after their brief detention, the BBC reports.

The group of women then ran down the street outside the police station singing "Putin will teach you to love the motherland" - a new song which correspondents say sarcastically lampoons the president's leadership.

The pair were convicted of hooliganism over a protest song against President Vladimir Putin in Moscow's largest cathedral.

They staged the protest along with other band members and were only released from jail in December.

The act was seen as blasphemous by many Russians, and was condemned by the Orthodox Church.