14:32 Inna Shevchenko, an activist of the FEMEN women's rights movement, the ideologist of a project to cut down a cross in central Kyiv, has left Ukraine for France, reads a statement posted on the FEMEN's Web site on Wednesday.According to the statement, she decided to leave Ukraine "in view of increased pressure from the SBU and the Russian Orthodox Church.""Within two weeks of the cross being cut down in Kyiv, Shevchenko was under around-the-clock surveillance, and the courtyard of her house was occupied by SBU officers. At a meeting of the council of the organization, >>>

A CHAINSAW-WIELDING blonde topless woman cutting down a cross in a city centre sounds like a scene from a peculiar pornographic film. But that is just what happened on August 17 in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv (Kyiv in its vernacular transliteration). A NSAW (not safe at work) clip of the stunt is available here.The woman, identified as Inna Shevchenko, was a member of FEMEN, a Ukrainian feminist group known for its topless protests. The action was supposed to show solidarity with the three women from Pussy Riot, a punk collective in Russia, who were sentenced that day, as well as a protest >>>

A few months ago, I wrote a column about how a group of topless female protesters were planning to stage demonstrations at Euro 2012, a massive European soccer tournament held in Ukraine and Poland back in June. The group, Femen, was concerned that Euro 2012, which drew millions of foreign visitors, would contribute to the prostitution and sex trafficking already rampant in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, and they figured their bare breasts could put a stop to it. As far as I can tell, the members of Femen organized four protests during the tournament, briefly commandeered the Euro 2012 >>>

Moscow (AsiaNews) - Four wooden crosses were sawn in half and torn down in two different regions of Russia, stoking controversy about the respect for the values ​​and religious symbols, after the scandal caused by the international condemnation of Pussy Riot. The Russian Orthodox Church has demanded justice for the attacks that occurred in the regions of Chelyabinsk and Arkhangelsk in the night between 24 and 25 August last, two weeks after the Ukrainian feminist group Femen used a chain saw on a cross in Kyiv. The action was a protest against the sentence to two years imprisonment for the members >>>

Four wooden crosses were chopped down by unknown vandals in Russia over the weekend, in what the Orthodox Church claimed was a campaign to sow religious hatred. Unknown men were seen chopping down a crucifix in the northern Arkhangelsk region on the night of August 25, while another three crosses were found cut to pieces near Chelyabinsk in the southern Urals. No-one has claimed responsibility for the action, which comes just days after activists from Ukrainian women's rights group Femen cut down a crucifix in the capital Kyiv, in a show of solidarity with three members of the all-female punk group >>>

Four Orthodox Christian crosses have been chopped down in different parts of Russia. The incidents come after the Femen movement attacked a cross in Kyiv to protest the sentence of the punk band Pussy Riot, who received two years in prison. Three crosses have been taken down in the Urals’ Chelyabinsk Region, and one in the Archangelsk Region, northern Russia. By the time police arrived at the scenes the vandals had already left. Authorities have launched an investigation into both cases. The Arkhangelsk cross was erected in the memory of the victims of political repressions, said a local >>>

Four Orthodox Christian crosses have been chopped down in different parts of Russia. The incidents come after the Femen movement attacked a cross in Kyiv to protest the sentence of the punk band Pussy Riot, who received two years in prison.Three crosses have been taken down in the Urals’ Chelyabinsk Region, and one in the Archangelsk Region, northern Russia.By the time police arrived at the scenes the vandals had already left. Authorities have launched an investigation into both cases. The two incidents follow a similar case when the leader of the Ukrainian activist group Femen took down a cross >>>

The leader of a Ukrainian nationalist party has chided three convicted members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot for "blasphemy" and said activists from Ukrainian feminist group FEMEN had shown an "inappropriate" form of protest at the conviction by cutting down a memorial cross in the center of Kyiv. "Being young doesn't give them the right to blaspheme," Svoboda leader Oleh Tiahnybok said during debates with students in Kyiv. "I'm a Christian. I get offended by things like that." "Our girls [from FEMEN] used an inappropriate form of support for [Pussy Riot] by cutting >>>

News 23 August 2012, 18:01Ukraine nationalist leader chides Pussy Riot's "blasphemy" Kyiv, August 23, Interfax - The leader of a Ukrainian nationalist party has chided three convicted members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot for "blasphemy" and said activists from Ukrainian feminist group Femen had shown an "inappropriate" form of protest at the conviction by cutting down a memorial cross in the center of Kyiv. "Being young doesn't give them the right to >>>

I seldom write about the women’s movement FEMEN because as newsmakers they have hardly ever been worth writing about. However, this time around they sent more powerful ripples than their hackneyed and dull strip actions. As a reminder: the FEMEN activist Inna Shevchenko and her associates took a chainsaw to a memorial crucifix in the center of Kyiv. The action was held on August 17, when the Russian punk band Pussy Riot received their verdict. FEMEN wrote in their Live Journal the following: “As a sign of solidarity with the victims of the Kremlin-clerical regime, the FEMEN girls tore down >>>