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Russia

Feminist Rockers Pussy Riot Still Locked Up After Pissing Off Putin

A Russian punk-feminist band called Pussy Riot has spent the past two months in jail after singing “Dear God, Chase Out Putin” in a Moscow cathedral. This week Russian police arrested some of their fans too.

Pussy Riot (Igor Mukhin)
Pussy Riot (Igor Mukhin)


*NEWSBITES

MOSCOW – Already in trouble with Russian authorities for their recent "punk prayer service" in a Moscow cathedral, feminist rock band Pussy Riot has now gotten some of its fans in hot water as well.

More than 10 of the band's fans were arrested Thursday during a gathering in front of the Moscow courthouse. Pussy Riot fans arrived at approximately 1 p.m. for what they called a "Judicial Festival," an event organized to protest Pussy Riot's continued incarceration. The arrests took place about an hour later.

Pussy Riot's band members have been locked up since Feb. 18 – two weeks before Russia's presidential election – when they led a controversial "service" in Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior. During the event, the women sang a tune called "Dear God, Chase Out Putin" while wearing colorful masks, dancing and bending over in faux-prayer. Neither the police nor the Orthodox Church appreciated the punk group's feigned religious fervor. They are now facing "hooliganism" charges.

The group's supporters arrived at the courthouse with balloons and homemade signs. But they were not alone. Activists from the Orthodox Church were already on the stairs, accompanied by law-and-order hardliners who attacked a group of six Pussy Riot fans. The police arrested anyone who tried to display any kind of sign.

Read the full article in Russian by Grigorii Tumanov

Photo – Igor Mukhin

*Newsbites are digest items, not direct translations

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Geopolitics

Why Beijing Needs Ukraine To Lose

As the Chinese government puts together what it calls a peace plan for Ukraine, it's also considering sending weapons to Russia. The Biden administration warns China will "pay a real price" if it helps Russia, but Beijing's real goal is to weaken the United States.

Why Beijing Needs Ukraine To Lose
Oleksandr Demchenko

This article was updated on March 21, 2023 at 12:15 PM CST

-Analysis-

KYIV — In Moscow for his visit since the Russian invasion, Chinese President Xi Jinping is presenting himself as possible peacemaker to end the war in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he is ready to talk with Xi in a bid to stop Beijing from supplying Moscow with weapons.

And yet China has no strategic interest in Ukraine winning the war. Why?

Xi's only priority is establishing a future world order on Beijing's own terms — and the defeat of Ukraine and its allies, particularly the United States, would create an opportunity for Beijing to absorb Taiwan and increase its influence in the Pacific.

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China is the main beneficiary of the full-scale war that Russia has unleashed against Ukraine, viewing the confrontation as a tool to weaken the West.

Like Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese authorities were convinced that Russian troops could capture Kyiv in three days and take control of most of Ukraine within a month. This is probably what Putin and Xi agreed when they met during the Beijing Olympics in Feb. 2022: the Russian leader promised to destroy Ukraine, weakening Europe and eroding the trust other democratic states had in the United States — and in exchange, the Chinese leader assured Putin that he would back Moscow.

Instead, what was hailed as "No. 2 army of the world" was forced to retreat. On Sept. 15, as Ukrainian forces were liberating the Kharkiv region, Putin met Xi in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. After returning to Moscow, Putin announced a partial mobilization.

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