This post and headline has been updated to reflect that the group Pussy Riot took credit for the field invaders. In one of those moments that is terrifying if you actually think about what could have happened, four people ran onto the field early in the second half of the World Cup – interrupting a counter-attack from Croatia: The fans are out on the field The fans are out on the field pic.twitter.com/vEvZHP7Nqh — Nick Bromberg (@NickBromberg) July 15, 2018 Because no one wants to interrupt what’s been an amazing World Cup Final to end one of the best World Cup tournaments in recent memory, no one was that amused by this. Or at least no one should have been amused by this – at least at first, before anyone knew why they had invaded the field. IDIOTS ON THE FIELD pic.twitter.com/3JurTipW2C — Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) July 15, 2018 The fans running on the field stopped Croatia’s counter 😂😂😂 — Cameron Teague (@cj_teague) July 15, 2018 Haven’t seen multiple fans run on the field in a long time. That’s dangerous, man. Wow. — Evan Barnes (@evan_b) July 15, 2018 Looking at those fans who ran on the field like.. pic.twitter.com/oDtd7BeVfY — Sports Illustrated (@SInow) July 15, 2018 As punishment, the fans who ran onto the pitch should have to spend the rest of the Summer in Qatar….no AC. — Paul Pabst (@PaulPabst) July 15, 2018 If those streakers were American it would be the perfect contribution to the World Cup we weren’t invited to pic.twitter.com/E1HyDs4XA0 — RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) July 15, 2018 When several fans run on the field at once… #WorldCupFinal pic.twitter.com/NvdSXr3lWI — The Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) July 15, 2018 Update: The feminist Russian protest punk rock group, Pussy Riot, later took credit for the field invaders according to reports. More from the UK’s Independent newspaper: Pussy Riot claimed responsibility for the invasion on their Facebook page with a lengthy statement. They said: “LIGHTNING! Right now – the four members of Pussy Riot in the finals of the World Cup: “The Miller comes into play” on the World Championship! “Pussy Riot in the finals of the World Championship – ‘The militiaman enters the Game’ NEWS FLASH! Just a few minutes ago four Pussy Riot members performed in the FIFA World Cup final match — ”Policeman enters the Game”https://t.co/3jUi5rC8hh pic.twitter.com/W8Up9TTKMA — 𝖕𝖚𝖘𝖘𝖞 𝖗𝖎𝖔𝖙 (@pussyrrriot) July 15, 2018 The most iconic image of the World Cup – France's Kylian Mbappé high fiving a member of Pussy Riot after she broke onto the pitch to protest political oppression in Russia pic.twitter.com/cMJM0C1eCc — Liam Kirkaldy (@HolyroodLiam) July 15, 2018 The reaction after the protesters were identified was much different – after all, protesters with a message compared to drunken idiots is quite different (including from this website): World Cup 2018: The Moral Clarity of Pussy Riot’s Protest https://t.co/wBRVMfX2o5 pic.twitter.com/kHC9REdWyu — Andy Sternberg (@andysternberg) July 16, 2018 I never thought I will see another streaker moment until yesterday’s game. Members of Pussy Riot interrupted the World Cup final — and right in front of Vladimir Putin! pic.twitter.com/NZd6b0Q4gS — Ram Subramanian (@VORdotcom) July 16, 2018 Pussy Riot claims credit for interrupting World Cup finalhttps://t.co/MroSqmThWq As long as we have bravery & purpose we will survive.. — Michael Des Barres (@MDesbarres) July 16, 2018 “The conclusion and the solution is only one: we must fight.” Pussy Riot, teach us. Pussy Riot claim responsibility for World Cup final pitch invasion https://t.co/CEiGBmOgaZ via @YouTube — Virginia Heffernan (@page88) July 15, 2018 Mbappe giving the double high five to Pussy Riot is easily the best image from World Cup 2018. This needs to be some kind of memorial: pic.twitter.com/bSthENiAL4 — Josh Webb-Thomson 🐝🦈🏆🏆 (@FightOnTwist) July 15, 2018 Read more at USA TODAY Sports.<doc-sep>THE World Cup final between France and Croatia in Moscow was briefly interrupted when three intruders ran onto the pitch before they were hauled off by stewards. The Pussy Riot punk band, whose members were jailed for staging a protest against Russian President Vladimir Putin in a church, said on social media that they were responsible for the pitch invasion. Olga Kurachyova, a member of Pussy Riot, told Reuters by telephone she was one of the people who had invaded the pitch. She said she was being detained at a Moscow police station. In the second half of the match, three people wearing white shirts and black trousers ran out onto the pitch from the area behind the French goal. A fourth person tried to run onto the pitch but was tackled on the sidelines. Croatia defender Dejan Lovren confronted one of the intruders and helped drag him off the pitch. The three people were able to run about 50 metres, dispersing in different directions, before stewards wearing high-visibility jackets tackled them to the ground and then dragged them off the pitch. The match 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 grounds. They had been wearing police-style outfits, the witness said. “ALERT! Right now: four members of Pussy Riot take part in the final of the soccer World Cup,” Pussy Riot said on their Twitter account, which is described as being run by band members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina. “Hello everyone from the Luzhniki pitch, it’s cool here!” Pussy Riot wrote in posts on their Twitter and Facebook accounts almost immediately after the incident.<doc-sep>RUSSIAN protest group Pussy Riot claimed responsibility Sunday for four people who brought the World Cup final to a brief halt by running onto the field dressed in police uniforms. The three women and one man who charged onto the field simultaneously in the 52nd minute of one of the world’s most watched sporting events were tackled to the ground by stewards. Croatia defender Dejan Lovren pushed the man, helping a steward to detain him. Before being hauled away, one of the women managed to reach the centre of the field and share a double high-five with France forward Kylian Mbappe. SMILING ASSASSIN: The three keys to ruthless France’s Cup demolition BRILLIANT: Top 50 World Cup moments (Part One) WACKY: Top 50 World Cup moments (Part Two) “Hello everyone from the Luzhniki field, it’s great here,” the heavily political punk band said on Twitter, and released a statement calling for the freeing of political prisoners, an end to “illegal arrests” of protesters and to “allow political competition” in Russia. Their statement also referenced the case of Oleg Sentsov, a vocal opponent of Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, who was sentenced in 2015 to 20 years for conspiracy to commit terror acts. He denies the charges and has been on a hunger strike since mid-May. The group said the police uniforms symbolised how Russian police’s actions fall short of their “heavenly” depiction in literature and called for reforms. It wasn’t clear if they used the uniforms as a ruse to enter the Luzhniki Stadium amid tight security, and the group couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. “The citizens in question were taken to the local police station,” the Moscow branch of the Russian Interior Ministry said, without providing further details. Pussy Riot rose to global prominence with their daring outdoor performances critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2012 that sent two members to prison for nearly two years. Putin was watching the game alongside his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and FIFA President Gianni Infantino. The group was previously known for wearing brightly coloured balaclavas, though those who protested Sunday did so with their faces uncovered. FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The protest was briefly shown on international TV broadcasts, even though FIFA policy is usually to cut away from field invasions.<doc-sep>
Pussy Riot claimed responsibility Sunday for an on-field protest during the World Cup 2018 final game between France and Croatia, a dramatic display of dissent that called for the release of political prisoners and advocating for freedom of speech. Four members of the Russian punk rock band and arts collective ran onto the field early in the second half, dressed as policemen, and pitched a protest in front of millions of viewers who were tuned in to the final match, which was also attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The protest also comes a day ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's high-stakes summit with Putin in Helsinki. "They're held at the police station 'luzhniki' and the lawyer Nikolay Vasilyev from Agora is there. But the cops don't let him in," a representative of the group told ABC News in an email Sunday afternoon. The message was relayed from Pussy Riot member Nadezhda "Nadya" Tolokonnikova, who was imprisoned in 2013 for protesting Putin's policies, but was not one of the four members who staged the protest on the field. According to Tolokonnikova, who cited a Russian police website, "They're charged with 2 misdemeanor cases." According to a statement obtained by ABC News from Russian police, members who ran to the pitch are charged with administrative offenses —- violating rules of conduct for spectators during the holding of official sporting events and also wearing a police uniform without authorization. In a post published on the group's official Facebook page, the members claimed responsibility for the protest, explained the significance behind the policeman imagery and included a list of demands. "Today is 11 years since the death of the great Russian poet, Dmitriy Prigov. Prigov created an image of a policeman, a carrier of the heavenly nationhood, in the russian culture," the group wrote. "...The heavenly policeman rises as an example of the nationhood, the earthly policeman hurts everyone...The FIFA World Cup has reminded us of the possibilities of the heavenly policeman in the Great Russia of the future, but the earthly policeman, entering the ruleless game breaks our world apart." In their Facebook post on Sunday, the group called for letting "all political prisoners free," "all political competition in the country," and to "stop illegal arrests on rallies," among other demands. In 2012, three of the group's original members were charged with hooliganism and sentenced to two years in prison for performing the anti-Putin protest song "Punk Prayer" at a Moscow cathedral. Yekaterina Samutsevich's sentence was suspended on appeal but Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina remained in prison until December 2013. After their release, the activists founded an independent media outlet that advocates for political prisoners and have continued to speak out against Putin and other leaders, including Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May. "We've seen the authoritarian tendencies is parading all around the world as sexually transmitted diseases, and we think it's time to make connection," Tolokonnikova told CNN in August 2017. "It's time to create global people's movement if we want to find an alternative to this raid of populism, which we've seen in my own country, Russia and in America too, Donald Trump, and in the UK, which ended up in Brexit."