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
Russian involvement in the Syrian Civil War United Kingdom likewise declined. On 20 October 2015, three weeks into the Russian military campaign in Syria, Russian President Vladimir Putin met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Moscow to discuss their joint military campaign "against terrorism" and "a long-term settlement, based on a political process that involves all political forces, ethnic and religious groups" in Syria. In May 2012, the Russian Orthodox Church and its primate Patriarch Kirill I were reported by the U.S. mainstream press to be supportive of the existing regime in Syria; the Church′s leadership alluded to the potential threat to Christians in Syria that had comprised