Pussy Riot, the Russian feminist activist band, has announced its long-awaited debut album, CYKA (Russian for ‘b*tch’), while openly challenging the Russian President Vladimir Putin. Band’s leader Nadya Tolokonnikova went up against, saying, “I challenge President Putin to a cage match.”
Russian punk band Pussy Riot calls out “old men ruining the world” and wants Putin on the mat
On June 1, the band introduced their album, which will arrive on June 12. Spanning 14 tracks, the album will reflect Pussy Riot’s fourteen years of activism, imprisonment, surveillance, and life in exile. Candy Dopamine is the album’s lead single, recorded with Avenged Sevenfold, who previously collaborated with the band in 2023
Talking about the single, Pussy Riot leader Tolokonnikova explained via Louder, “This song is kind of a love and hate song to prescription and designer drug culture. It started with my dependence on antidepressants, but it’s also looking at everyone now, mentalhealthmaxxing and looksmaxxing via pills and injections.”
Adding, the 36-year-old performance artist and activist further said, “It’s not a judgment, it’s just an observation, and my personal experience with these things is that I have to be in a long-term relationship with them for my PTSD and depression.”
On the album’s title track, Putin is credited as a contributor. However, Tolokonnikova said that he would not receive any royalties, saying, “They can add it to my list of crimes.”
Tolokonnikova described, “All these old men ruining the world right now act tough, but we see through their fragile egos, and I’m not afraid to call them out. They are, in fact, pussies. While the world is waiting for the UFC Freedom 250 on June 14 at the White House, I challenge President Putin to a cage match.”
She quipped by saying, “He thinks he’s so tough, but afraid of a girl? Let’s see. He loses? He gets the fuck out of Ukraine. The world can watch him lose to a girl, even with all his judo training. He can’t even ura [a Japanese word used to describe techniques executed to the back of an opponent] anymore, but he throws the world into despair.”
The album announcement comes shortly after the band made headlines at the 61st Venice Biennale. Joining forces with the Ukrainian group FEMEN, the band held a protest against Russia’s presence at the international art festival.
In November 2023, Tolokonnikova was arrested in absentia, and six other members, including Peter Verzilov and Maria Alyokhina, received in-absentia sentences. In July 2025, the Russian State Duma passed a law banning online searches for four of the group’s videos. The videos included Free The Cobblestones, Kropotkin Vodka, Death To Prison Freedom To Protest, and Putin Has Pissed Himself.
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