Madonna - Madonna To Face Protests Outside Russian Show

The pop superstar has jetted to Moscow as part of her ongoing Mdna tour and is due to perform at the city's Olimpiski Arena.

However, she has incurred the wrath of conservative groups in the country by throwing her support behind incarcerated rockers Pussy Riot, who are currently on trial on hooliganism charges, and protesters plan to demonstrate outside the singer's Moscow concert.

Campaigners are calling on authorities to stop the star performing in the country.

A spokesman for Russia's Union of Orthodox Banner-Bearers tells the Interfax news agency, "It is not in our power to ban her, but we call on the authorities - who position themselves as Orthodox believers - to do so. This little singer is openly mocking our laws, our traditions and our culture."

Kirill Frolov of the Orthodox Experts Association adds, "We will drop by to say 'no' to blasphemy... and to explain our position to those who plan to attend her concert... A woman calling herself Madonna intends to desecrate the cross. We will not stand for that."

The three stars of Pussy Riot - Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alekhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich - face up to seven years in jail after they were accused of voicing their opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin by playing a protest song in a church in February (12).

Madonna, who is among a number of stars to have spoken out in the band's defence, urged the judge overseeing the trial to be "lenient". She is due to play a second Russian gig in St. Petersburg on Thursday (09Aug12).