Sometimes he misses the Stalinist '30s

What the police told the Pussy Riot activists after they stormed the World Cup soccer field

During the final game of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, four members of the activist group Pussy Riot (the same one that infamously protested inside a church) stormed the soccer field. The four individuals — Pyotr Verzilov, Olga Kuracheva, Olga Pakhtusova, and Nika Nikulshina — are calling their demonstration “The Police Officer Comes Into Play,” and they say it’s part of the group’s demands for the release of Russia’s political prisoners.

Law enforcement detained all four Pussy Riot members and booked them at the Luzhniki police station. Almost immediately after they were taken into custody, the Twitter account @nalog399 published a video that appears to show two of the activists being interrogated by officers.

Here is a written transcript:

Police officer: Handcuffs! Somebody get me handcuffs for these two here! Who are you, you little shit? Give me your full name. So you decided to take a shit on Russia, eh?

Pyotr Verzilov: No, we’re for Russia. We are for Russia.

Police officer: Do you know that Russia will have to pay a fine for this to FIFA?

Pyotr Verzilov: Why?

Police officer: Because fuck you, that’s why!

Pyotr Verzilov: We’re for Russia, clearly, just like you, if you’re for Russia.

Police officer: Russia is going to have to pay a fine because of you.

Pyotr Verzilov: We didn’t. That’s not true.

Police officer: What’s wrong with you kids?

Pyotr Verzilov: There’s nothing wrong with us.

Police officer: Where’d you get the uniform?

Pyotr Verzilov: [inaudible] rented them.

Police officer: You rented them? Sometimes I regret that it isn’t still [19]37. Just sometimes. You took a shit on Russia, yes?

Pyotr Verzilov: We didn’t shit on Russia. We have no goal. On the contrary, we’re for Russia.

Police officer: No goal? You [inaudible] a fine on Russia.

Translation by Kevin Rothrock