Four Members of Pussy Riot Ran Onto the Field During Sunday's World Cup Final in an Act of Protest

Pussy Riot, the musical group that moonlights as a protest group (or vice-versa?), has claimed responsibility for the group of people who disrupted Sunday’s World Cup final between Croatia and France. The act of protest involved four people—all dressed in law enforcement uniforms—running onto the field (and high-fiving at least one player) before being tackled by security.

In a tweet sent soon after the event, Pussy Riot revealed they were the masterminds behind the act of protest-cum-performance art (titled “Policeman enters the game”), and that it was meant to commemorate the 11-year anniversary of the death of “the great Russian poet, Dmitriy Prigov,” as well as to make the following six demands:

1. Let all political prisoners free.

2. Not imprison for “likes”.

3. Stop illegal arrests on rallies.

4. Allow political competition in the country.

5. Not fabricate criminal accusations and not keep people in jails for no reason.

6. Turn the earthly policeman into the heavenly policeman.

The final demand is a reference to Prigov, who, they write, “created an image of a policeman, a carrier of the heavenly nationhood, in the Russian culture.” While the “earthly” policeman “gets ready to disperse rallies,” his “heavenly” counterpart “gently touches a flowers in a field and enjoys Russian football team victories” and “talks on the two-way with the God Himself.”

Their full statement is below: