Under a cloud of pink, blue and yellow smoke, the balaclava-wearing group could be heard shouting "blood is Russia's art" and "disobey" as police blocked them from the building.

Russian punk band Pussy Riot and members of a Ukrainian feminist group stormed the Russian pavilion at an arts festival in protest at Moscow's participation, News.Az reports, citing Sky News.

Fifty members of feminist groups opposed to Vladimir Putin blockaded the highly controversial green building for at least half an hour while Italian police stopped them from entering and temporarily closed the pavilion. Activists linked to the rock group and from Ukrainian organisation FEMEN launched the demonstration over Russian involvement at the world's oldest international art exhibition, the Venice Biennale, on Wednesday.

As pink, blue and yellow smoke filled the air, with their faces covered by pink balaclavas, they could be heard shouting "Blood is Russia's art" and "Disobey".

The group chanted, played a punk rock song and dispersed without any further trouble on the second day of VIP previews ahead of the festival's opening on Saturday.After years of war, "you guys just opened the door to them," said Pussy Riot founder Nadya Tolokonnikova.

She said the festival had not understood the importance of "so-called soft power, things, things that seemingly for some people are not important or not political".

"For Russia, it's clear that it's part of their military strategy, and that's the way they try to conquer the West," she said.

This year is the first time Russia has participated in the international art exhibit since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

News.Az 

By Leyla Şirinova