Pussy Riot members released after Sochi detention

TWO members of the Russian punk group Pussy Riot have been released after being detained by police in Sochi, the host city of the Winter Olympics.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, in the blue balaclava, and Maria Alekhina, in the pink balaclava. Picture: AP

No charges were filed against Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alekhina, who were held along with several other people near the city’s ferry terminal, a popular area for fans celebrating the Olympics.

Seven other people who were detained with them were also released.

Police said they were being questioned in connection with a theft at the hotel where they were staying.

Ms Alekhina and Ms Tolokonnikova spent nearly two years in prison but were released in December. They were convicted of hooliganism after staging a protest in Moscow’s most prominent cathedral in opposition to President Vladimir Putin’s government.