Ex-Pussy Riot Member Says She Helped the FSB Spy on Kremlin Critics
Rita Flores said FSB officers coerced her into signing a cooperation agreement after threatening to kill her relatives and put her in prison.
Former member of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot, Rita Flores, has accused Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) of recruiting her as an informant, alleging she was tasked with gathering information on anti-war activists and even participating in a failed assassination plot. According to Flores, the FSB coerced her into signing a cooperation agreement after a raid on her Moscow apartment in February 2023, which threatened criminal prosecution over her social media posts criticizing alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine and death threats to her relatives.
Operating under the alias "Harley," Flores was assigned to create detailed profiles of Russian artists and political dissidents. From early 2024 to June, she reportedly received monthly payments of 50,000 rubles ($600) for her services. However, Flores claims she sabotaged these assignments for over two years by creating false personal conflicts with targets to delay their arrests.
In mid-2025, she allegedly refused to help FSB agents kidnap and murder her ex-boyfriend and former Pussy Riot member Pyotr Verzilov, for which she was offered 3 million rubles ($36,000). Flores sought help from human rights lawyer Dmitry Zakhvatov and exiled businessman Leonid Nevzlin, ultimately fleeing Russia earlier this month.
However, The Moscow Times, which reported this story, warns that Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has labeled their organization as "undesirable," putting their staff at risk of prosecution, and calls for support to continue their independent journalism.
Written by urgent.news from The Moscow Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
