Pussy Riot Free to Tweet at Last! · Global Voices
Andrey Tselikov

While the pardoned Mikhail Khodorkovsky [Global Voices report] doesn't appear in any hurry to set up Twitter or Facebook accounts and join Russia's chattering classes, the recently amnestied Pussy Riot band members [Global Voices report], Maria Alekhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, are already micro-blogging up a storm. Of course, unlike the former head of Yukos, they didn't spend the last 10 years in prison — as Khodorkovsky noted in his press conference [ru], both Facebook and Twitter didn't even exist when he was arrested.
Tolokonnikova and Alekhina reunited in Krasnoyarsk.
Alekhina opened a Twitter account, @malehina [ru], and has already tweeted 82 times. A sizable portion of these tweets, however, are a seemingly random collection of pithy sayings, like:
Всегда выбирайте самый трудный путь — там вы не встретите конкурентов!
— Мария Алехина (@Malehina) December 24, 2013
Always choose the most difficult path — there you won't face competition!
Tolokonnikova, on the other hand, resumed tweeting from her old account @tolokno [ru]. Her tweets are also eclectic. For instance, a few hours ago Tolokonnikova wondered [ru] why Russian prisons ban eyebrow tweezers — one can go to solitary confinement if found with a pair. (I am no expert on Russian prisons, but the reason is likely the same as why they are banned on airplanes.) At the same time, she appears to have mixed feelings about her early release during the holiday season:
Меня выпустили – а завтра бы Рождество с моими протестантками осужденными встречали.
— Надя Толокно (@tolokno) December 24, 2013
I've been released – but otherwise tomorrow we would be celebrating Christmas with my Protestant convicts.