Three members of the Russian feminist punk band Pussy Riot have been jailed for two years each after being found guilty of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred for staging an anti-Kremlin protest in a church.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Marina Alyokhina, 24, and 30-year-old Yekaterina Samutsevich stormed the altar of Moscow's Christ the Saviour in February wearing bright ski masks, tights and short skirts.

They sang a "punk prayer" urging the Virgin Mary to rid Russia of Putin.

The three handcuffed young women stood in silence in a glass courtroom cage and at times smiled and laughed to each other as the judge, Marina Syrova, read out the verdict.

Though few Russians have much sympathy for the women, Putin's opponents portray the trial as part of a wider crackdown by the former KGB spy to crush their protest movement.

Foreign stars led by Madonna, who performed in Moscow with "PUSSY RIOT" painted on her back, have campaigned for the trio's release, and Washington says the case is politically motivated.