Television humorist Mikhail Zhvanetsky criticized President Putin's inauguration motorcade on state television, saying it looked "disinfected" and "wiped with alcohol."
In a rare but tempered show of public criticism, Zhvanetsky said the motorcade looked out of place as it drove toward the Kremlin through completely empty Moscow streets.
"There were no birds. How did they drive off the birds?" he said in comments during the show Watchman of the Country.
He contrasted the motorcade, which he said brought a "feeling of loneliness," with images of protesters gathered at rallies.
"People look happy at rallies, they stand near each other, defended by each other, and this makes it good for them," he said.
