Vladimir Putin managed to offend advocates of both women’s and gay rights with comments made in response to the Femen protest in Hanover earlier this week, at which he was accosted by four topless women, their bodies scrawled with curses of “F*** Putin” and ‘Dictator’.  He responded by being patronising and sleazy in equal measures, and whilst he was at it, used the opportunity to take an additional swipe at the gay community:

Putin milked the incident for all it was worth. “I liked it,” he said in Hanover, according to the RIA Novosti news agency. “Thank the Ukrainian girls for helping promote the fair… I didn’t really hear what they were yelling because the security guards were so tough. Those big guys manhandling the girls. I think this is wrong, they could have been more gentle.”

Later in Amsterdam, Putin changed his position. “I had not had breakfast that morning,” he told reporters. “If they had showed me a sausage, that would have made me happy, but those delights they demonstrated did not.” He added: “Thank God gays did not undress.” (report from Bloomberg)