Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina said on twitter that the attack occurred as they, along with several other band members, were singing their song in front of a banner advertising the 2014 Winter Olympics.

“Near the Sochi 2014 banner singing ‘Putin will teach you to love fatherland’ Pussy Riot were attacked by Cossacks, whipped and thoroughly sprayed by pepper gas,” wrote Tolokonnikova, who was recently released from jail.

Alyokhina added that one of the band members had his eyebrow injured as a result of the attack and posted a photo of Tolokonnikova’s bruised chest after the “Cossacks batons.”

У одного из членов #pussyriot рассечена бровь после нападения казаков. Газовые балоны, хлысты. Полиция не реагировала pic.twitter.com/EGkXY7N8II

— Мария Алехина (@MashaAlekhina) February 19, 2014

On Wednesday, the group had gathered in a downtown Sochi restaurant, about 30km from where the Winter Olympics are being held, according to Associated Press. The activists ran out wearing their trademark ‘uniform’ - brightly colored dresses, tights and balaklavas – and were approached by about a dozen Cossacks.

This latest scandal comes just a day after Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina were briefly detained in Sochi for questioning over a theft in the hotel they were staying in. After being released shortly later, they claimed they were beaten up by police.

The former Pussy Riot members, Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina now describe themselves as rights activists. Both young women served two-year jail terms for hooliganism after performing the so-called “punk prayer” in Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral in February 2012.