Former Pussy Riot Member Reveals Three-Year Coercion by Russian FSB
Rita Flores, a former member of the Pussy Riot collective, has publicly disclosed that she was recruited and handled by FSB officers for three years. She claims she was coerced into cooperation through blackmail and threats against her family, tasked with informing on activists, and later involved in a plot to kidnap and murder activist Pyotr Verzilov before fleeing Russia.
Rita Flores, a 29-year-old Russian artist, activist, and former member of the Pussy Riot collective, has revealed that she was recruited and handled by Federal Security Service (FSB) officers for three years. According to her account, the recruitment began after a police search in February 2023.
Flores stated that she was coerced into signing cooperation papers through blackmail, death threats against her family, and the threat of criminal prosecution under wartime censorship laws. Officers allegedly threatened to open a case regarding an Instagram post criticizing Russian killings in Ukraine. They also suggested they could arrange for her mother to be killed if she refused to cooperate. In exchange for signing the papers, Flores received a one-off cash payment of 30,000 or 40,000 roubles.
Her primary handler was identified as a junior officer named Ivan, while a senior officer known as "the Jacket" reportedly used intimidation and insults. During this period, Flores’s tasks included informing on fellow opposition-minded artists and protest-minded individuals.
In May 2026, handlers asked Flores to gather information on activist Pyotr Verzilov and arrange a meeting in Serbia for his kidnapping and murder. To incentivize her assistance in the Verzilov case, Ivan paid Flores 50,000 roubles a month. Flores married her partner in September 2025, partly to create a pretext for refusing travel to Serbia.
Flores fled Russia at the end of August 2026 with the help of lawyer Dmitry Zakhvatov, breaking her ties with the FSB. She told approximately 20 people about her recruitment. Her confession aims to embolden others in similar situations to break ties with the FSB. The Guardian could not independently corroborate the details of Flores's account.