( CNN ) -- One of the members of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot serving a two-year prison sentence has asked to be transferred to solitary confinement because of `` strained relations '' with other inmates , state media reported Friday . Maria Alyokhina , 24 , and fellow band member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova , 23 , were sentenced in August for performing a song critical of President Vladimir Putin in one of the Russian Orthodox Church 's most important cathedrals in February . They are serving their sentences at a penal colony in Perm , about 1,000 kilometers ( 700 miles ) east of Moscow . The state-run news agency Ria Novosti cited unidentified prison officials as saying that Alyokhina had made the transfer request . The agency noted that Alyokhina , a vegan , had previously complained about the meat-based diet at the prison colony . Yekaterina Samutsevich , a third member of the band who was sentenced with Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova , was freed from prison last month . Following her release on a suspended sentence , Samutsevich vowed to continue the kind of political protest act that led to their imprisonment . Footage of the brief but provocative protest action attracted worldwide attention after it was posted online . It showed the band members , their faces shrouded by balaclavas , screaming `` Mother Mary , please drive Putin away '' inside Christ Savior Cathedral in Moscow , outraging many of the Russia church 's faithful . The three women , who were arrested shortly after the protest act , were convicted of hooliganism . Two other members of the all-female group have fled Russia . Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina are expected to try to take their case to the European Court of Human Rights .
Both Alyokhina and another female band member were sentenced in August . They are serving their two - year prison sentences in a penal colony far from Moscow . She has requested solitary confinement , Russia 's state news agency reported . It cites prison officials as saying she has ` ` strained relations '' with other inmates .