2 Pus-sy Riot members 'have fled Russia'

Two female Pussy Riot punk rockers who are being hunted by police for having taken part in a protest stunt against President Vladimir Putin have fled Russia in order to evade arrest, the group said Sunday. "Our two members who are wanted by police have managed to leave the Russian territory! They are trying to recruit foreign feminists to prepare new action," the group wrote on its Twitter account, without giving details on where the women have fled to. Five bandmates from Pussy Riot on February 21 pulled on brightly coloured balaclavas and belted out a "punk prayer" in Moscow's Christ the Saviour Cathedral calling on the Virgin Mary to remove Russian strongman Putin. Three members of the group -- Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevich -- were arrested then and on August 21 sentenced to two years in jail for "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred". The other two bandmates have remained free. But Russian police announced three days after the court ruling that they were seeking to arrest the duo. Besides the five women, an unknown number of people have also participated in the action, notably in filming the scene in the cathedral. The Russian court's ruling has been decried by the West which calls it disproportionate and excessive. International stars including Paul McCartney, Madonna and Sting have also lent their support for the punk rockers.