Patriarch Kirill of Moscow in 1997. In his 2002 interview with "Izvestia", Metropolitan Kirill called the allegations about his profiteering a political campaign against him. Alexander Pochinok who was the minister of taxes and levies (1999-2000), said in 2009 that Kirill had no involvement in the violations. Three female members of the feminist group Pussy Riot were arrested in March 2012 for performing a song in the Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow during which they called on the Virgin Mary to "chase Putin out". The women were arrested for hooliganism and were later sentenced to two years' imprisonment. The song contained swear words
Moscow bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics later, the Russian city of Sochi won the bid to host the 2014 Winter Olympics. The International Olympic Committee gave the Moscow bid the highest level of criticism compared to the other four candidates. The following is an excerpt from their report: Moscow bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics Moscow 2012 was one of the five short-listed bids for the 2012 Summer Games, and was to be held in Moscow, Russia. The capital city's Olympic plans were to build on top of the legacy created after the 1980 Summer Olympics. Moscow's River Plan called for every single competition to be