MOSCOW, December 23. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said insulting Prophet Muhammad doesn’t count as the expression of artistic freedom.

Insults to the prophet are a "violation of religious freedom and the violation of the sacred feelings of people who profess Islam," he said during his annual news conference.

Putin also criticized posting photos of Nazis on websites such as the one titled the Immortal Regiment and dedicated to Russians that died in World War Two.

Putin said these acts give rise to extremist reprisals, citing as an example the attack on the editorial office of Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris after its publication of cartoons of the prophet.

While praising artistic freedom in general, Putin said it has its limits and it shouldn’t infringe on other freedoms.

Russia has evolved as a multi-ethnic and multi-confessional state, so Russians, he said, are used to respecting each other’s traditions. In some other countries, this respect comes in short supply, he said.