Arrested members of Pussy Riot go on hunger strike to protest contact ban in Russia prison

Two members of the Russian activist punk band Pussy Riot have begun a hunger strike at the prison near Moscow where they are currently serving sentences, according to reports published by two independent Russian news websites on Saturday.

Maria Alyokhina and Lyusya Shtein are demanding that they be placed in one cell and allowed to communicate with each other, the independent news website Meduza and the civil rights portal Ovd-Info reported.

Alyokhina and Shtein are currently forbidden from speaking to each other at all in jail, according to the reports, a ban the pair says has no basis in law.

Both women are serving two-week prison sentences for organizing a demonstration in support of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny earlier this month.

Members of the band have repeatedly been arrested by the Russian police, often resulting in prison sentences, since the group shot to international fame for performing a "punk prayer" in protest against Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in 2012.