A former member of the Russian feminist punk collective Pussy Riot has publicly admitted to working as an informant for Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) for three years. Speaking in a video interview with human rights lawyer Dmitry Zakhatov—published Monday, August 24, 2026, on the YouTube channel PortVideo—the woman, who uses the alias Rita Flores and whose real name is Margarita Konovalova, said she was coerced into cooperation under threat of criminal prosecution and violence against her family.
Coerced Cooperation Under Duress
According to Flores, FSB operatives pressured her into becoming an informant in February 2023, following a search of her Moscow apartment. She claims she was given the codename ‘Harley’ and a dedicated contact number to communicate with her handler. After that, she ceased active participation in Pussy Riot.
Her assigned tasks reportedly included gathering intelligence on artists and political activists in Russia—including their personal networks, routines, and living environments. Among those she says she was asked to monitor were street artist Philip Kozlov, activist Pavel Krysevich, and fellow Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina.
Refusal to Participate in Violent Operations
Flores stated she attempted to sabotage some of her assignments. She revealed that FSB agents later tried to recruit her for a far more serious operation: the abduction and assassination of Pyotr Verzilov—a former editor of the independent media outlet Mediazona, and also a former member of both the art group Voina and Pussy Riot. The offer reportedly came with a payment of 1–3 million rubles. When this assignment was presented to her in summer 2025, she contacted Zakhatov, who helped orchestrate her escape from Russia.
Zakhatov told the investigative publication The Insider that preparations for her departure took approximately one year. Flores successfully fled Russia about ten days before the interview was released.
In explaining her decision to go public, Flores said she wanted to support others facing similar coercion by Russian security agencies. On her Instagram account (@ritaflores69), she thanked Zakhatov and Leonid Nevzlin—a former senior executive at the now-defunct Yukos oil company—for their assistance.
Flores had previously been arrested multiple times in 2021, including for alleged police disobedience and for posting online a photograph featuring a swastika alongside a musician from the German band Tokio Hotel—a charge related to the public display of Nazi symbols, which is illegal in Russia.