Pussy Riot protest band members Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova were detained on Tuesday in connection with a theft in the Winter Olympics host city of Sochi, less than two months after their release from prison under an amnesty.

The pair were held for around three hours at a police station in the Adler district of Sochi, before appearing with other women on the steps outside wearing summer dresses, coloured leggings and their trademark balaclava masks.

Some punched the air in triumph and sang songs as they left the building, where they were greeted by dozens of reporters.