Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he sees no ill in those meme-triggering photos of him enjoying a day-off without his shirt on. There’s no deep meaning, it’s just that he has nothing to hide, Putin told Austrian TV, RT reported

The Kremlin-released photos of shirtless Putin taking a dip in icy waters, fishing in a mountain lake in Siberia, or that never-aging classic of him riding a horse, instantly became Internet sensations and sparked epic photoshop battles, that caused some to believe that the Russian President could have actually ridden a bear.

“You said ‘half-naked’ not ‘naked,’ thank God. When I am on vacation I see no need to hide behind the bushes, and there is nothing wrong with that,” he said.