SOCHI, Russia (AP) — Cossack militia attacked Russia’s Pussy Riot punk group with horsewhips on Wednesday as the artists — who have feuded with Vladimir Putin’s government for years — tried to perform under a sign advertising the Sochi Olympics.

The group has resurfaced as a thorn for Russian authorities this week for the first time in nearly two years, just as Putin had been using the Winter Games to burnish his image at home and charm critics abroad with the most expensive Olympics ever.