THEATRE publicists broke off from promoting their shows at the Edinburgh Fringe to don fluorescent balaclavas in support of Russian punk band Pussy Riot.

Volunteers for the Underbelly, the Pleasance and other venues took part in a flash mob with Amnesty International volunteers on the Royal Mile yesterday.

Pussy Riot's female musicians face up to three years in jail after they performed a song which criticised Vladimir Putin.

Amnesty International Scotland director Shabnum Mustapha said: "It's fairly hard to shock on the streets of Edinburgh, but we did it."