Anti-Kremlin protesters invade World Cup pitch

The World Cup final between France and Croatia on Sunday was briefly interrupted when three intruders affiliated to anti-Kremlin punk band Pussy Riot ran onto the pitch before being hauled off by stewards. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

The pitch invaders, who were dressed in police-style outfits, were later detained by police, one of them told Reuters by telephone from a police station near Moscow's Luzhniki stadium, venue for the match. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann

Croatia's Dejan Lovren clashes with a pitch invader. In a post on its Facebook page, the group said its action was intended to draw attention to what it said were human rights abuses in Russia. REUTERS/Carl Recine

A steward apprehends a pitch invader while Croatia's Dejan Lovren looks on. Three of Pussy Riot's original members were jailed in 2012 for staging a protest against Russian President Vladimir Putin in a church and the group have since become a symbol...more

In the second half of Sunday's match, the three people wearing white shirts with police-style epaulettes, black trousers and police hats ran out onto the pitch from the area behind the French goal. A fourth person tried to run onto the pitch but was...more

One photograph on social media showed one of the pitch invaders, a woman with blonde hair tucked under a police cap, performing a high-five with France player Kylian Mbappe before being caught. REUTERS/Darren Staples

The three ran about 50 meters, dispersing in different directions, before stewards wearing high-visibility jackets tackled them to the ground and dragged them off the pitch. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

The match, watched from the stands by Putin and the French and Croatian presidents, was halted, but resumed about 25 seconds later. A witness at the stadium said he had seen police escorting the pitch invaders out of the stadium...more

The pitch invasion was the first significant security lapse in the five-week tournament that has won hosts Russia widespread praise for their good organization and efficiency. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj

Pussy Riot member Olga Kurachyova told Reuters she was one of the pitch invaders and was being held at Luzhniki police station. She said she could not speak further because police were trying to take her mobile phone away from her. Moscow police said...more

In its Facebook post, Pussy Riot complained of rights abuses in Russia. They alluded to Oleg Sentsov, a Ukrainian filmmaker jailed for 20 years in 2015 for setting fire to two offices in Crimea, including one belonging to Russia's ruling party, after...more

A pitch invader runs near Croatia's Ivan Strinic and France's Kylian Mbappe. Pussy Riot said their demands included freeing political prisoners in Russia, freedom of speech on the internet, freedom to protest, and allowing political...more

The group shared a video on social media recorded before the incident featuring three female activists, at least two of whom were among those detained. They wore police uniforms and one of them wore a pink balaclava. "The World Cup has shown...more

Russian news website MediaZona, co-founded by one of the original three Pussy Riot members, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, reported that one of the pitch invaders was Pyotr Verzilov, Tolokonnikova's husband. REUTERS/Carl Recine

A separate video posted on social media appeared to show the moments after the pitch invaders had been detained. Two of them, a man and a woman, could be seen standing in a room, dressed in disheveled police uniforms, while a voice off camera...more

A steward apprehends a pitch invader. REUTERS/Darren Staples

Stewards apprehend a pitch invader. REUTERS/Carl Recine

Stewards chase a pitch invader. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez

Two of four intruders affiliated to anti-Kremlin punk band Pussy Riot, Olga Pakhtusova (L) and Olga Kurachyova, who ran onto the pitch during the World Cup final between France and Croatia, attend a court hearing in Moscow, Russia July 16, 2018....more

One of four intruders affiliated to anti-Kremlin punk band Pussy Riot, Pyotr Verzilov, who ran onto the pitch during the World Cup final between France and Croatia, gestures during a court hearing in Moscow, Russia July 16, 2018. REUTERS/Sergei...more

One of four intruders affiliated to anti-Kremlin punk band Pussy Riot, Olga Kurachyova, who ran onto the pitch during the World Cup final between France and Croatia, attends a court hearing in Moscow, Russia July 16, 2018. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

Veronika Nikulshina, one of four intruders affiliated to anti-Kremlin punk band Pussy Riot who ran onto the pitch during the World Cup final between France and Croatia, attends a court hearing in Moscow, Russia July 16, 2018. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin