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Pussy Riot says members are okay after claim that they were ‘detained’ by Russian security

The Russian punk band Pussy Riot says two of its members have reappeared after allegedly being detained by Russian authorities this week. 

“[W]e found Sasha and Olya. they were detained several times but safe now. thank you for your help!!” Pussy Riot wrote on Twitter, referring to band members Olya Borisova and Sasha Sofeev. 

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The Russian punk band, which has been highly critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Tuesday that Borisova and Sofeev had gone missing in Crimea and that they had been detained “several times” by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), the modern-day successor to the Soviet-era KGB.

“Two Pussy Riot members are missing. Olya Borisova & Sasha Sofeev disappeared in Crimea yesterday,” the band tweeted. “FSB detained them several times. Yesterday cops broke their phones and computers. We can not reach out to them. We don’t know what has happened to them.”

Pussy Riot gained international attention in 2012 after a controversial performance at a Moscow cathedral. That performance led to the arrest of three of its members.