A parallel can be drawn here to the February Revolution of 1917. Groups of women led a series of rallies in celebration of International Women's Day. Angry women demanding bread persuaded factory workers to strike and such were their numbers that the city was soon paralysed, with the threat of military retaliation largely neutralised by the presence of women. Within the week, the army had changed sides and the tsar abdicated. By contrast, women played no part in the Bolshevik coup later that year.

Almost a century later, many of the same battles are still being fought — by people like the members of Pussy Riot. This in no way is intended to diminish the group's importance in highlighting the human injustices of the Putin regime. But if Western governments and media fail to support the feminism championed by Pussy Riot, it is all too likely that 2012, like 1917, will be remembered as a lost opportunity for radical change.