Estonian IT buff launches game to back Pussy Riot

An Estonian graphic designer has taken to cyberspace to protest Russia's jailing of feminist-punk activists Pussy Riot, launching an anti-Kremlin version of hit video game "Angry Birds".

An Estonian graphic designer has taken to cyberspace to protest Russia's jailing of feminist-punk activists Pussy Riot, launching an anti-Kremlin version of hit video game 'Angry Birds'.

Magnus Vulp said on Friday that the goal of his 'Angry Kremlins' was to draw attention to the fate of the three Russian women, who were sentenced to two years in a corrective labour facility by a Moscow court.

Just like players of Angry Birds -- the world's most downloaded mobile app, made in Estonia's neighbour Finland -- those who try the free Angry Kremlins must use slingshots to destroy targets.

But while the original involves firing birds at pigs, players of Vulp's game launch officials at Pussy Riot-style rebels.

'The game Angry Kremlins was naturally derived from the news in Russia and the unfair judgement, repression of freedom of speech and the political crisis around Pussy Riot,' Vulp told AFP.

'The main purpose is not playing but handling issues -- the game Angry Kremlins, in core, is more of a poster or performance than a computer game,' he underlined.

In a ruling that sparked international criticism, the Pussy Riot trio were found guilty of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred after they performed a protest song against President Vladimir Putin in Moscow's main Orthodox cathedral.

Activists detained at unsanctioned political protests in Russia usually face non-criminal public order charges that are punished by a maximum 15 days in police cells.

Vulp said that the game, like others posted on his imepilt.com site, was a product of his own free time, will and resources.

'No one has requested this game from me nor has anyone paid me for it,' he said.

Uploaded on Tuesday, the game had been played some 50,000 times by Friday, mostly in Russia and the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

The three small republics were ruled by Moscow from World War II until the Soviet Union crumbled in 1991, and have had rocky relations with their former master since then.