One of Pussy Riot founders Tolokonnikova declared wanted - Russian Interior Ministry

MOSCOW. March 29 (Interfax) - One of the founders of the Pussy Riot band, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, designated as a foreign agent in Russia, has been declared wanted, the relevant file with Tolokonnikova's data was added to the Russian Interior Ministry's wanted list on Wednesday.

The band member is wanted on the basis of an article of the Russian Criminal Code.

It emerged earlier in March that the Russian Investigative Committee initiated a new criminal case of offending religious feelings against Tolokonnikova. The case was opened based on posts on social networks.

The charges against Tolokonnikova are punishable by a fine of up to 300,000 rubles, community service, or imprisonment for up to one year.

According to the head of the Agora human rights organization Pavel Chikov, designated as a foreign agent in Russia, Tolokonnikova has been living in the United States for several years now.

In 2012, alongside two other Pussy Riot members, Maria Alyokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich, Tolokonnikova was sentenced to two years in a penitentiary for the so-called punk prayer they staged, wearing balaclavas, at the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow. In December 2013, the women were released under an amnesty declared by the State Duma on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Russian constitution.