Russia’s prime minister has said the women in the Pussy Riot punk band serving two-year prison sentences should be set free.

Two members of punk band Pussy Riot have been taken to remote Russian prison colonies notorious for their harsh conditions after a court this month upheld their two-year sentences, their lawyer said.

A Moscow appeals court has freed one of the jailed Pussy Riot members but upheld the two-year prison sentence for the two others.

More than 120 “anti-smog” centres were opened by authorities in Moscow today to give residents an escape from record-breaking heat and choking smoke from wildfires blazing around the capital.

A minibus collided with a lorry on a road in central Russia, killing eight people and seriously injuring six others, reports said today.

A Russian nurse, depressed at not being paid for months, dug her own grave and burned herself to death.