Pro-LGBT and feminist group announced to play gig in November

A controversial band jailed for defying President Putin are to play in Glasgow.

Pussy Riot, who will perform at the city’s Oran Mor in November, shot to notoriety in 2012 when three of the groups members, Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevich were imprisoned for “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” for their performance inside Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.

Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikov were released in December 2013 (Samutsevich was freed on probation in 2012).

They have gone on to become one of the most important voices of the last 10 years whose lyrical themes include feminism, LGBT rights and whose opposition to Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump has become a rallying cry for young people across the globe.

The band, who are characterised by their colourful balaclavas, will perform anti-Putin anthems and recount tales of their incarceration at the Oran Mor venue.

David Gillespie of Synergy Concerts, which is promoting the event, said: “We’ve always been big fans of persecuted dissidents and the Russians have produced some of the world’s best.

“Pussy Riot is a story we’ve been tuned to since the beginning. We couldn’t be happier or more excited about welcoming them to Scotland.”

In March 2014, Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova founded Zona Prava, a charity that defends prisoners’ rights.