Russian authorities filed charges against members of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot over “violating the spectators’ rights” and illegal display of police symbols, after they briefly interrupted the World Cup final match on Sunday by running onto the pitch, Radio Free Europe broadcaster reported on Monday.

Three women and one man, wearing police uniforms, caused a short interruption of the final match between Croatia and France when they ran onto the pitch in the 52nd minute.

The four protesters can be fined by up to 11,500 Russian rubles (€158) or be sentenced to 160 hours of community service, the Moscow-based independent news agency Interfax reported.

The match was played on the Russia’s national stadium Luzhniki in Moscow, one of the largest in Europe with a seating capacity of 81,000. Russia’s president Vladimir Putin was present at the match.

Pussy Riot has been speaking up against Putin for years, and the band’s members have spent several years in prison over organising different protests against the Russian president, the most famous of which was the 2012 protest in Christ the Saviour, Moscow’s biggest cathedral.

By invading the pitch, the band said they wanted to warn about political repression in Russia, and they published a message on their social media with six demands, including a demand to free political prisoners and stop illegally detaining protesters at political rallies.

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