Former Pussy Riot Member Says She Was Recruited by Russian Security Service to Spy on Dissident Artists
Rita Flores says the FSB threatened her family and trained her to report on artists before she fled Russia.
- Former Pussy Riot member Rita Flores revealed she was coerced into working for the FSB for three years, operating under the codename "Harley" to gather information on dissidents before fleeing Russia earlier this month.
- Following a February 2023 raid on her Moscow apartment, officers coerced Flores into signing a cooperation agreement, threatening her with criminal prosecution and the murder of her relatives, warning she would "disappear without trace" if she refused.
- Flores's primary job involved compiling a "report" on dissidents for further "investigation," though she sabotaged assignments for two years by faking feuds with targets like artists Philippenzo and Pavel Krisevich while receiving 50,000 rubles monthly.
- Refusing to lure Pyotr Verzilov to a cafe in Serbia for a kidnapping, Flores sought help from lawyer Dmitry Zakhvatov to "delay" the plot and flee Russia with assistance from exiled businessman Leonid Nevzlin.
- Pussy Riot was declared an extremist organization by the Kremlin last year; The Moscow Times noted it could not independently verify claims made by Flores regarding the FSB operations or the assassination plot.
23 Articles
23 Articles
Rita Flores, a former member of the Russian activist punk band Pussy Riot, claims to have been forced to work as an informant for the Russian…
Két évig mködött együtt a titkosszolgálattal, de megprobálta szabotálni a munkát, álítja Rita Flores, aki azota elmenekült az országból.
Former Pussy Riot member escapes Russia after 3 years of forced work for FSB
"They began recruiting me, threatening me in every possible way, humiliating me, saying some very unpleasant things, threatening to kill my family, and telling me that I would never in my life be able to prove who killed my mother," Rita Flores said.
Rita Flores, a former member of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot, says she was forced to work as an informant for the Russian security service FSB for years. She was reportedly required to gather information on critics of the Kremlin and even had to lure her own ex-boyfriend to a café where he was to be killed, writes The Moscow Times.
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