According to a recent press release, Pussy Riot has recently sent out an open letter and video in support of their fellow members Anya Pavlikova, Oleg Sentov, and others who are imprisoned by Putin.

In the letter “Open Letter: Putin vs. kids,” singer Nadya Tolokonnikova writes about the extreme struggle Pavlikova and her family are facing during her unjust lock-up in Russian Prison. They use their prison in order to “sterilize” those that the Russian Government deems a threat to their nonsensical ideals whether about politics, sexuality, or anything in between.  See a couple excerpts of the letter below.

Anya Pavlikova, who’s just turned 18 years-old in prison, a girl with two braids, is standing behind the bars, crying, begging the judge to let her free:

“I’m not going to run anywhere. I don’t want and I can’t intimidate anybody. I got headaches all night long, I can not sleep. It’s impossible here. I want to go back home. I can’t bear it anymore. I want to hug my mom. I ask you to give me any other pre-trial constraint. But not prison. That’s all”.

The judge’s replica feels like a cruel stupid joke from someone who’s in charge of putting Anya in jail and literally killing her by it. Anya’s in jail since March, she’s losing her health. Anya is in prison hospital now. After staying for a couple of hours in a cold prison van she got inflammation of appendages, she peed with blood, and she does not get any proper treatment. “Prison sterilizes”, – said to Anya a prison doctor (a woman!).

The video, which was also released in support of Anya, can be seen below. The video is a clear homage to PAvlikova as it is titled “Unicorn Freedom” and discusses her struggle as well as the common struggle for a large majority of the Russian people. The video contains a pink screen with an enormous amount of cute unicorn, seal, and baby animal pictures. Covering the center of the screen are the lyrics in a pixelated black text that acts as the focal point of the piece. Check it out below and feel the cuteness overload.Just don’t forget the main purpose of this video: a means of support for the oppressed so as to pass along their story and message.

Photo credit: Brett Padelford