A member of the Russian protest group Pussy Riot, Maria Alyokhina, has fled Russia, claiming in an interview with the New York Times in Lithuania that she was able to shake her police monitor by disguising herself as a meal courier.
The activist thus joins thousands of Russians who have left the country since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine.
Last September Alyokhina was sentenced to one year of “restrictions” on her freedom, which included judicial controls, night curfews and a ban on leaving Moscow, for having called for a demonstration against the arrest of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
At the end of April, the Russian justice system toughened those measures, replacing them with a prison sentence.
In an interview with the New York Times, the 33-year-old said on Wednesday that she had managed to escape Moscow disguised as a meal delivery girl, leaving her mobile phone behind to act as a decoy and prevent the police from tracking her.
She then crossed the border into neighbouring Belarus and a week later was able to cross into Lithuania, after several attempts.
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