Sochi: Two members of Pussy Riot, the Russian feminist protest band, were detained yesterday in the biggest political disruption of the Winter Olympics so far.

Out, at last: Pussy Riot members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova Maria Alyokhina, in ski masks speak to journalists after being released by the police. Pic/AFP

Police said that they were questioning Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, about a theft at their hotel. The pair emerged from a police station near Olympic Park after a number of hours, wearing masks and singing. Both women said they had been roughed up during the questioning.

Tolokonnikova said her arms were twisted and she was thrown to the floor, and Alyokhina said: “Dragged into the investigator’s office along the stairway. Everyone has bruises.”

The Sochi police said that the women were being questioned “in connection with a complaint received from the hotel they are staying at, about a theft that occurred there”.