Former Pussy Riot activist reveals FSB coercion and escape from Russia
Rita Flores, a 29-year-old former Pussy Riot member, disclosed how the FSB forced her to spy on dissidents and plot a kidnapping before fleeing Russia in August 2026.
In a first interview since escaping Russia, Rita Flores, also known as Margarita Konovalova, described her recruitment by the Federal Security Service in February 2023 following a domestic raid tied to a critical Instagram post. Two men threatened to open a criminal case and to harm her mother unless she agreed to cooperate, providing a small cash sum for her compliance. For three years she interacted with a senior officer nicknamed “the Jacket” and a subordinate called Ivan, who alternated between threats and seemingly amicable behavior while demanding information on fellow activists and, later, on Piotr Verzilov, a former Pussy Riot collaborator now in Ukraine.
The FSB allegedly planned to use her to arrange a meeting in Serbia that would lead to Verzilov’s abduction and murder. Flores arranged her departure by marrying her partner in September 2025 and, with the secret assistance of lawyer Dmitry Zakhvatov, left Russia at the end of August 2026, now seeking to help other activists break similar ties.
Why it matters
The testimony exposes how Russian security services coerce dissenters and attempts to silence opposition abroad.
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