IOC: Pussy Riot beating is not an Olympic problem

SOCHI, Russia, Feb. 21 (UPI) -- International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams says that while the assault on the Pussy Riot is "very unsettling," it is not an Olympic problem.

This statement comes after members of the punk band and activist group Pussy Riot were pepper-sprayed and whipped by a group of Russian Cossacks while planning an anti-Putin demonstration in Sochi.

Adams said the issue was a civic one and not an Olympic one, and that the governor of the Krasnodar region where the event took place was very concerned about the issue. "It's largely an issue for the Krasnodar governor, and he's expressed strong disapproval of what happened," Adams said.

Pussy Riot's attorney, Alexander Popkov, said that three members of the group were hospitalized to treat injuries from the attack. After the attack, member Maria Alyokhina tweeted a photo of fellow band member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and said: "Lying with Nadya on beds next to each other in a hospital."

Лежим с Надей на соседних койках в больнице. pic.twitter.com/3BjMR1QS1x

— Мария Алехина (@MashaAlekhina) February 19, 2014

[USA Today]