Ex-Pussy Riot Member Says She Was Recruited by Russia to Spy on Artists

Margarita Konovalova, a former Pussy Riot performer who used the alias Rita Flores, said she was coerced by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) into spying on dissident artists for the past three years, according to an interview with the independent outlet Port Media after she fled Russia earlier this month with her lawyer’s help. Konovalova said an FSB officer raided her apartment in February 2023, after which she was detained and threatened—along with her family—into signing a non-disclosure agreement and paperwork outlining cooperation. She claimed the FSB pressured her with potential criminal prosecution over social media posts criticizing deaths during the Battle of Bucha in 2022 and then tasked her with researching and writing profiles on contemporary artists. Konovalova also said the security service seized all her documents except her Russian internal passport.

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