Ex-Pussy Riot member says FSB coerced her into three years of informing on Russian artists and activists, then told her to help kidnap and kill Pyotr Verzilov

Rita Flores, a former member of the Russian punk group Pussy Riot, has claimed that she was coerced by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) to spy on contemporary artists and political activists, including other Pussy Riot members. The allegations were made in an interview with her defense attorney, Dmitry Zakhvatov, which was published by the outlet Port.

According to Flores, she began working with the FSB in 2023 and was given the code name "Harley." She was subjected to threats of criminal prosecution, the harm of her relatives, and the possibility of disappearing if she refused to cooperate. The FSB trained her as an agent, confiscated her documents, and assigned her to monitor artworks that could provide grounds for targeting their creators.

She claims she was involved in the targeting of street artist Philippenzo, performance artist Pavel Krisevich, and fellow Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina. Additionally, Flores alleges that the FSB tried to recruit her into the kidnapping and murder of Pyotr Verzilov, the former publisher of Mediazona and a member of the art groups Voina and Pussy Riot.

Flores said she contacted her attorney to persuade the FSB to postpone the kidnapping mission, which they agreed to, and then fled the country. She only recently managed to leave Russia, with the help of Zakhvatov and former Yukos executive Leonid Nevzlin, who she says saved her "ass and soul."