Russian punk outfit Pussy Riot has released “Like a Red Prison,” their first new video in almost a year.
The politically-charged song attempts to draw attention to the close ties between the President Vladimir Putin administration and the oil industry.
In the new video, the activists don their infamous neon balaclavas and, with guitars and microphones in hand, dance on top of an oil rig and a gas station. The members also pour what appears to be oil on a portrait of Igor Sechin, the head of Rosneft, the state-run oil firm.
The artists also touch on Putin’s connection with the Russian Orthodox church (“Your president is like an ayatollah in Iran and your church is like it is in the UAE”) and the administration’s views on homophobia (“Homophobic vermin, out from history”).
The group made headlines last summer when three of its members were sentenced to two years in jail for “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” after a performance in a Russian Orthodox church. In October, Yekaterina Samutsevich was released on probation but Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina are still in prison.
Many artists have voiced their support for the release of the imprisoned Pussy Riot members, including Madonna, Green Day, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The group was the subject of the HBO documentary “Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer,” which aired in June.