Recently, it was reported that Peter Verzilov of Pussy Riot became severely ill and lost consciousness shortly after attending a hearing related to charges that stemmed during a day of "widespread" protest in Moscow. Before those charges, Verzilov was previously arrested for storming the pitch at the World Cup. Pussy Riot claimed that Russian doctors initially refused to tell Verzilov's family why he had fallen ill. Russian doctors eventually stated that Verzilov “overdosed on or was poisoned by anticholinergic drugs.” Verzilov's family denied that Verzilov would willingly take those kinds of drugs. Pussy Riot was more direct and stated that he was poisoned by the Russian government as retaliation for the World Cup issue. Verzilov was so ill that, after three days or so, he was flown to Berlin for further treatment

Today, Pussy Riot stated that doctors at Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin hospital confirmed that Verzilov was poisoned, and did not overdose on a drug. The activist group issued a statement: "If you ask Peter why do you think you were poisoned, he most likely will tell you about the recent arrest of Igor Sechin, whether there is mobile connection in Arctic or not, about Marina Abramović and Ulay’s performances, and his postmodernist phantasies. It may be scary, but most of the time Peter still has his unique sense of humor. When he saw me and Nika Nikulshina yesterday, he said, ‘So good to see you without handcuffs.It’s important to realize that Peter’s life was in danger. He might be dead now if Nika Nikulshina was not around to help him."