A Russian regional court has banned an image based on a Christian Orthodox icon printed on t-shirts in support of the Pussy Riot punk band.

      The image in question is a parody of the Our Lady of the Sign icon, with the Mother of God wearing a balaclava while the Child Jesus is portrayed as a girl with plaits, the office said.

      A Novosibirsk city court ruled on Monday that the image insults the religious feelings of Christian believers and falls under the definition of information whose circulation is prohibited, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

      In accordance with the court ruling, the image will be included into a federal list of materials banned from circulation on the Internet, obliging all operators across Russia to block access to the site in question.

      Two members of the Pussy Riot female punk rock band were sentenced last August to two years in jail for performing a “punk prayer” protest against Putin at Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral.