Sir Elton John has written an open letter to Vladimir Putin accusing him of "hypocrisy" over his claims Russia has "no problems" with gay people.

Axar.az reports citing BBC.

The singer said he was "deeply upset" by the Russian president's comments in an interview in the Financial Times.

Sir Elton said his film Rocketman was edited in Russia to remove references to his husband David Furnish and their family. Russia has denied censorship.

He previously criticised Mr Putin for a "ridiculous" attitude to gay rights.

In the interview, published on Friday, Mr Putin attacked liberalism and, speaking of the LGBT community, said: "God forbid, let them live as they wish."

But he added: "Some things do appear excessive to us... They claim now that children can play five or six gender roles.

"Let everyone be happy, we have no problem with that. But this must not be allowed to overshadow the culture, traditions and traditional family values of millions of people making up the core population."