What Madonna Doesn't Get About Russia's Punk Protest

To a Westerner, the imprisonment of three women from the feminist performance group Pussy Riot might seem a clear-cut case of inspired rebellion and mean-spirited repression. For Russians, it's not so simple.

In the days since a Moscow court handed down a two-year sentence for Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alekhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich, everyone from celebrities to opposition leaders has struggled to make sense of the group's staggering success. Even those fervently opposed to President Vladimir Putin's authoritarian rule are in some cases finding it hard to align themselves with Pussy Riot -- either because they genuinely disagree with the group's approach, or because they realize it could harm their careers.