Russia has launched a full-scale assault on Ukraine and Nadya Tolokonnikova of Russian punk rock group Pussy Riot has a strongly-worded message for the president: “Fuck Putin. I hope he dies quickly.”
On Saturday (26 February) evening, Pussy Riot carried out at Terminal 5, a well-liked music venue in New York Metropolis. It was then, per The Rolling Stone, that band member Tolokonnikova spoke out in opposition to the Russian president.
“I hate warfare,” the 32-year-old singer-activist stated to followers. “I like peace. I help Ukraine. Fuck Putin. I hope he dies quickly.”
Based in 2011, Pussy Riot is a Moscow-based punk band famed for staging pop-up and guerrilla-style performances protesting Vladimir Putin’s management and supporting LGBTQ rights.
In 2012, the band put up an anti-Putin “Punk Prayer” efficiency in a Moscow cathedral, resulting in the arrest of three members who had been later sentenced to 2 years in jail for “hooliganism motivated by spiritual hatred,” a sentence unanimously criticised by the US, UK, and EU as “disproportionate.”
Saturday evening’s present had not been straightforward for Tolokonnikova, who admitted to Rolling Stone about feeling ‘immeasurably distraught’ ever since Russia had invaded Ukraine. The singer, who pulled out of a duet with headliner Marina on the latter’s new single Purge the Poison, additionally spoke of her mates in Russia who’re in jail for protesting the warfare.
Regardless of this, there are not any indicators that the Pussy Riot members are hitting the brakes on their activism.
The band lately launched UkraineDAO, an NFT marketing campaign to lift funds for Ukrainian civilian teams and reduction efforts. NFTs of the Ukrainian flag are minted and offered, elevating over $3 million for Ukraine in lower than 24 hours. All proceeds go to “Come Again Alive”, a Ukrainian charity initiative touted by Tolokonnikova as “probably the most efficient x clear.”
⚡️⚡️⚡️🇺🇦 Ukrainian Flag. 1/1.
Saturday 12PM EST Feb 26
•AUCTION STARTS x lasts for 72 hours•https://t.co/lqtaopmwIxFunds go in direction of civilians who assist these affected by the warfare, “Come Again Alive”, probably the most efficient x clear Ukrainian charitable initiatives pic.twitter.com/GUqdYZqrdV
— 𝖕𝖚𝖘𝖘𝖞 𝖗𝖎𝖔𝖙💦 (@pussyrrriot) February 26, 2022
“Our objective is to make use of what we’re good at, Web3, to help Ukrainians as they address the Russian invasion of their nation,” Pussy Riot tweeted about UkraineDAO. “We’ll be shopping for an NFT of the Ukrainian flag.”
The band additionally launched an announcement saying, “We purposefully prevented including our personal artwork to this launch, in a manner it’s our robust conceptual inventive assertion. Individuals can have completely different aesthetics, but it surely’s not about what coloration we favor, it’s about uniting to avoid wasting lives. The Ukrainian flag unites us.”
UkraineDao was created in affiliation with Trippy Labs and PleasrDAO, the crypto group that bought the one-and-only copy of the Wu-Tang Clan album beforehand owned by Martin Shkreli.
