Jochen Luebke / EPA

An eye-opening experience for Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) as he is confronted by a topless demonstrator during a tour of the Hanover Fair in Hanover, Germany, on April 8, 2013. He was accompanied by German Chancellor Angela Merkel (center right) and Volkswagen Chief Executive Officer Martin Winterkorn (extreme right).

Russian President Vladimir Putin laughed off a protest against him by topless women in Germany on Monday, joking that he liked what he had seen while sharply rebuffing German criticism of his human rights record.

Three members of the women's rights group Femen, which has staged protests against Russia's detention of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot around Europe, disrupted his visit to a trade fair in the German city of Hanover focusing on Russian business.

They stripped to the waist and shouted slogans calling the Russian leader a "dictator" before being covered up and bundled away by security men.

Julian Schultenschulte / EPA

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin exchange glances after the incident involving topless demonstrators.

Jochen Luebke / EPA

Security staff stop another topless demonstrator at the Volkswagen stand at the Hanover Fair.

"Regarding this performance, I liked it," grinned Putin at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, adding that it had helped to promote the trade fair though he suggested that the security men could have been "gentler".

"I did not catch what they were shouting, I did not even see if they were blondes, brunettes or chestnut-haired ... I don't see anything terrible in (the protest), though I think ... it is better to be dressed if one wants to discuss political matters." Read the full story.

Jochen Luebke / AFP - Getty Images

A demonstrator is held by security staff.

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This story was originally published on Mon Apr 8, 2013 9:12 AM EDT

Inna Sokolovska / EPA

A topless activist of the Ukrainian feminist group Femen attempts to confront Patriarch Kirill, center right, after he landed at the Boryspil Airport in Kiev, Ukraine on July 26, 2012.

Gleb Garanich / Reuters

Patriarch Kirill, right, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, attends a welcoming ceremony as he arrives at the airport in Kiev.

Updated at 1:05 p.m. ET: A topless woman confronted the head of the Russian Orthodox Church as he arrived in Kiev on Thursday in the latest in a string of eye-catching stunts pulled by a Ukrainian feminist group.

An activist from the Femen women's rights group rushed towards Patriarch Kirill with bared breasts, yelling "Get out!", the Russian state news agency reported, before she was bundled away by security guards.

The European Pressphoto Agency reported that the Femen protest aimed to highlight a demand for greater independence for Ukraine's main orthodox church, which still answers to the Moscow Patriarchate.

"Regrettably, people are trying to mar the Patriarch's visit to Ukraine through these stunts," the head of the patriarch's press service, Deacon Alexander Volkov, said, adding that such incidents signal "a deep spiritual crisis in some social circles."

Russian Orthodox Church apologizes for photoshopping patriarch's expensive watch

Gleb Garanich / Reuters

Security guards detain the FEMEN activist.

Femen via AFP - Getty Images

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