Maria Alekhina, one of the three members of the band Pussy Riot who were convicted for their punk prayer in Christ the Savior Cathedral, has been released

On Friday, December 20, jailed Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky was released after Russian president signed a decree pardoning him. The most famous prisoner in Russia left the country to visit his sick mother in Germany.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, a jailed member of an anti-Kremlin Pussy Riot punk band, will serve the remainder of her sentence in a hospital, a penitentiary official told Russian press on Monday.

The actress was awarded a prize in the nomination “For the protection of human rights by means of culture and art”. Last year the award in this nomination was given to the filmmaker Vladimir Sinelnikov.

The People’s Artiste of the USSR Yury Yakovlev died, aged 85, on the night of Saturday in Moscow.