Pussy Riot protesters burn Putin banner

Members of the Russian feminist group Pussy Riot burned a large portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin and another government official. Three of the group's members were sentenced to two years last month for performing a "punk prayer" critical of Putin in a Moscow cathedral. The women, who credit female singers Madonna and Bjork and the punk band Green Day as influences, can be heard in a video shouting: "These men think it's illegal to call yourself a feminist and to sing punk music. These men think that you can't criticize your government." The video, timed to coincide with the MTV Video Music Awards, was characterized by the group as, "a gigantic punk feminist thank you to all the musicians, activists, to everyone around the world who stands up together for the fight to our right to be free," the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported.