Nadezhda Tolokonnikov and Maria Alyokhina of Pussy Riot joined House of Cards Season 3 as themselves to confront the Russian president. No, Vladimir Putin did not appear on the Netflix show, but a fictional President Viktor Petrov was the target of Pussy Riot's rage on House of Cards . Tolokonnikov, Alyokhina, and activist Pyotr Verzilov protested during a dinner while Petrov visited the White House and President Frank Underwood. (It was the Russian president's first invite in three American presidents.)
In 2013, the Russian band Pussy Riot were found guilty of hooliganism (yep, that's a thing) after a protest song against Putin. In House of Cards, Pussy Riot was invited to the dinner at the White House with fake Russian President Petrov in attendance. Petrov toasted Claire (he targeted her throughout the night) and then toasted his fellow Russians — despite their "differences" saying that they shared "a deep love of our country."
The two women of Pussy Riot responded in kind (speaking in Russian with Verzilov translating) with a speech of their own. It included scathing commentary like, "Viktor Petrov ... Who is so open to criticism that most of his critics are in prison."
Petrov took the blow by responding with, "Let us all drink and laugh like true Russians do." But the three activists were not about to agree to that. They poured out their champagne on the table, dropped their glasses, and stormed out of the dinner. To the fictional Petrov's credit, he did say to President Underwood (ahh! I still can't believe that's Frank's official title) about Pussy Riot, "You've got to admire their fearlessness."
After Petrov overstepped by kissing Claire during the after-dinner party, she called him a bully and helped Frank to decide to back out of his negotiations with the Russian President. And Frank (of course!) used Pussy Riot's dinner protest to his own advantage by saying at a press conference,
Last night I had the pleasure of hosting some very special guests here at the White House. True Russian patriots who exhibit the very best that their country has to offer. ... As you're all aware, they stood up to President Petrov and forced him to listen to the truths that he didn't want to hear. And well, that had a profound affect on me because it made me realize that I need to stand up to him as well. As does our country.
(Like he even cared about their protest until it benefitted him politically.)
Oh, Petrov. If you thought you weren't going to feel the wrath of President Underwood, you were a fool. And in case you still weren't sure of House of Cards' stance on the current (real) Russian president, the episode ended with a Pussy Riot song and music video.
