Pussy Riot members assaulted by gang who threw paint on them

Nadya Tolokonnikova and Masha Alyokhina were also pepper sprayed The pair were in city of Nizhny Novgorod visiting a local prison Alyokhina reportedly left the fast food restaurant with a 'cut forehead'

By Wills Robinson

PUBLISHED: 11:14 EST, 6 March 2014 | UPDATED: 11:15 EST, 6 March 2014

Members of the feminist punk group Pussy Riot have been attacked by a gang of men inside a Russian McDonalds.

Nadya Tolokonnikova and Masha Alyokhina were covered in paint while they sat and had breakfast in the city of Nizhny Novgorod.

The pair, who were jailed for hooliganism in 2012, also had pepper spray, green antispetic and metal thrown in their faces during the assault.

They were visiting the area to inspect a local prison with Peter Verzilov and members of NGO 'Zone of the Rights'.

Tolonnikova allegedly left the restaurant with a 'cut forehead' and the group have complained to the police.

She was seen getting up from her seat and clutching her face during the incident. while the gang of men continually shouted abuse.

When the attack eventually stopped, one of the men held up a sign to the camera while another was seen shouting down the lens.

At around 7.00 am the group barged into the fast food restaurant where the musicians and their crew were eating.

It is not the first time the group have been targeted by members of the public.

At the start of the Sochi winter Olympics, members of the group were whipped and tackled to the ground by Cossacks as they sang in protest.

The band started to perform an anti-Putin song under a sign advertising the Winter Olympics. But singer Tolokonnikova was brutally whipped in the attack and the guitarist was left bloodied and bruised.

Last month, Tolokonnikova was filmed saying the anti-government protests in Ukraine were an 'inspiation'.

She was also among those arrested during protests outside a Moscow courthouse.

Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina were released from seperate prisons on December 23, 2013 after the Russian State Duma approved an amnesty.

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