Pussy Riot band member Maria Alyokhina escapes Russia dressed as meals courier after criticising Putin | World News

Political activist and member of the Russian band Pussy Riot has reportedly fled the country disguised as a food courier after criticising Vladimir Putin.

Maria Alyokhina and her fellow band members first came to the eye of the Russian authorities after staging a protest against the Russian president inside Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral in 2012.

Regardless of being sentenced to 2 years in jail for their activism, the group continued to speak out against the Kremlin chief, with Ms Alyokhina remaining determined to struggle Mr Putin's system.

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After being released from prison, she continued her activism and set up a news outlet centered on crime and punishment in Russia, known as Mediazona, with another member of the band.

In April, Russian authorities positioned her underneath home arrest as they tried to cease those within the country who opposed their invasion of Ukraine.

The 33-year-old was then ordered to spend 21 days in a penal colony.

However, the band chief managed to evade the Moscow police by disguising herself as a food courier and leaving her cellphone behind as a decoy.

She was then able to cross into Lithuania after seeking the assistance of an artist from Iceland, who secured her travel paperwork.

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Comparing her story to a "spy novel", Ms Alyokhina advised The New York Occasions: "I used to be pleased that I made it, as a result of it was an unpredictable and massive kiss-off to the Russian authorities.

"I still don't perceive fully what I've finished."

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Ms Alyokhina added: "I do not think Russia has a right to exist anymore.

"Even earlier than, there were questions about how it is united, by what values it's united, and the place it's going. However now I do not assume that could be a question anymore."

In 2019, fellow bandmate Nadya Tolokonikova spoke to Sky News about her time in a prison camp and protests happening in Russia.