Russian security forces horsewhipped two members of the punk group Pussy Riot, Wednesday, for an impromptu performance in Sochi, the host city of Winter Olympics.
Four members of the Russian punk group wearing balaclavas were staging a protest against President Vladimir Putin and the Winter Olympics, which they termed a "political event." Around a dozen Cossacks, who are used by Russian police to patrol the streets, gathered and beat the Pussy Riot members with horsewhips, a video footage showed.
The officers also punched, threw the band's guitar in a bin and used pepper spray to stop them from protesting. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) previously warned the Pussy Riot that it would be "wholly inappropriate" to protest outside the Olympic venues, reports the Agence France-Presse. However, no arrests were made.
The footage shows Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, who along with another band member Maria Alyokhina was earlier jailed for their Moscow church performance, being whipped as she lay on the ground, reports the Associated Press.
A male band member wearing a bright yellow tank top, was left with blood on his face and said he was pushed to the ground by the officers, reports The Independent.
"Now there is an occupation of this territory, because the city is under total police and security control," Tolokonnikova said Tuesday, reports the Examiner. "We have arrived here on Sunday [and] we are being detained all the time. Even when we were driving our car and walking in the street. So they are looking for any reasons to arrest us."
Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina were detained Tuesday by police for hours in Sochi. After Wednesday's scuffle, Tolokonnikova posted photos of the bruises on her body. "My back hurts from the beatings on my body there are bruises and marks from the whips," Tolokonnikova wrote.
The band members went to Sochi hospitals for treatment after the police beating.
Watch Russian Cossacks Whipping Pussy Riot Members:
