Pussy Riot members seek asylum in Sweden after 'persecution' in Russia over anti-Putin protests

Two members of protest punk art collective Pussy Riot have applied for political asylum in Sweden, arguing they have been persecuted in Russia.

Lusine Djanyan and Aleksej Knedljakovskji are living in accommodation for asylum seekers with their son while they wait for a decision.

The couple have been living in Sweden for ten months and are hoping to be granted asylum soon, Swedish outlet mbl reported.

Pussy Riot gained worldwide fame in 2012 when the group staged a performance inside Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior, which was condemned as sacrilegious by the Orthodox Church.

The group said their protest was directed at the clergy's support for Vladimir Putin during his presidential campaign.

Three of the group members were sentenced to two years in a remote prison camp for "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred".

Since their protest, Pussy Riot members have travelled the world, appearing in music videos with Chloë Sevigny, making a Putin-themed cameo in House of Cards, and posing for pictures with Hillary Clinton.

They were also the inspiration for an advertising campaign of Swedish furniture giant Ikea, which featured four young people wearing balaclavas in an apparent reference to the collective.

The advert was later deleted from the company's Russian website, with an Ikea spokesperson saying: "We are politically and religiously independent and our website cannot be used as a platform for political or religious campaigns."