Patriarch Kirill of Moscow in 1997. In his 2002 interview with "Izvestia", Metropolitan Kirill called the allegations about his profiteering a political campaign against him. Alexander Pochinok who was the minister of taxes and levies (1999-2000), said in 2009 that Kirill had no involvement in the violations. Three female members of the feminist group Pussy Riot were arrested in March 2012 for performing a song in the Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow during which they called on the Virgin Mary to "chase Putin out". The women were arrested for hooliganism and were later sentenced to two years' imprisonment. The song contained swear words
Public image of Vladimir Putin a subject of Russian jokes and chastushki, such as the popular "[Before Putin] There Was No Orgasm" featured in the comedy film "". There is a meta-joke that, since the coming of Putin to power, all the classic jokes about a smart yet rude boy called "Вовочка" ("Vovochka", diminutive from Vladimir) have suddenly become political jokes. Putin features in the colouring book for children "Vova and Dima" (presented on his 59th birthday), where he and Dmitry Medvedev are drawn as good-behaving little boys, and in the "Superputin" online comics series, where Putin and Medvedev are portrayed first as superheroes, and