Four members of the political punk band Pussy Riot have been charged with misdemeanours after they invaded the pitch in police uniform during the World Cup final in Moscow.
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The charges pertain to violating spectator rules and misusing the uniform of a law enforcement officer during their protest, which the group titled Policeman Enters the Game.
The group confirmed that the members had been charged with two misdemeanours and said they faced up to 15 days in jail, according to a statement posted on Facebook.
The members ran onto the field at the Luzhniki Stadium in protest against the imprisonment of Ukrainian film director Oleg Sentsov, a fierce critic of Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region who was charged with plotting terrorist attacks in the area.
"Let all political prisoners free. Free Oleg Sentsov," the band wrote on Facebook.
Sentsov, best known for his 2011 motion picture Gamer, an acclaimed drama about a video game enthusiast in Crimea, was sentenced to two decades in prison by a Russian court a year after the annexation.
Russia occupied and annexed the Black Sea peninsula, the long-time site of a major Russian naval base, in response to Ukraine ousting its pro-Russian president in a pivot to the West.
The annexation evoked widespread outcry and led to a series of tit-for-tat sanctions between Russia and Western powers, including the European Union and the United States.
Pussy Riot became famous in 2012 when two members were imprisoned for more than a year for hooliganism over a protest in a prominent Moscow cathedral.
Australian Associated Press