DAVOS, Switzerland — Three topless Ukrainian protesters were detained Saturday while trying to break into an invitation-only gathering of international CEOs and political leaders to call attention to the needs of the world's poor. Separately, demonstrators from the Occupy movement marched to the edge of the gathering.
After a complicated journey to reach the heavily guarded Swiss resort town of Davos, the Ukrainians arrived at the entrance to the complex where the World Economic Forum takes place every year.
With temperatures around freezing in the snow-filled town, they took off their tops and tried to climb a fence before being detained. "Crisis! Made in Davos," read one message painted across a protester's torso, while others held banners that said "Poor, because of you" and "Gangsters party in Davos."
Davos police spokesman Thomas Hobi said the three women were taken to the police station and told that they weren't allowed to demonstrate. He said they would be released later Saturday.
The activists are from the group Femen, which has become popular in Ukraine for staging small, half-naked protests to highlight a range of issues including oppression of political opposition. They have also conducted protests in some other countries.
"We came here to Switzerland to Davos to explain the position of all poor people of the world, to explain that we are poor because of these rich people who now sit in the building," said Inna Schewcenko.
Protesters from the Occupy movement that started with opposition to practices on Wall Street held a separate demonstration in Davos on Saturday. A small group of protesters are camped in igloos in Davos to call for more help for the needy.
About 40 Occupy protesters gathered in front of the town hall. Some held placards with slogans such as "If voting would change anything, it would be illegal" and "Don't let them decide for you, Occupy WEF."
They then marched toward the forum, prompting about a dozen police officers to hastily erect a mobile barrier as Saturday shoppers looked on with bemusement.
The demonstrators chanted anti-capitalist slogans, remaining about 100 feet (30 meters) from police lines.
One member of the Occupy camp was invited to speak at a special event outside the forum on Friday night to discuss the future of capitalism; British opposition leader Ed Miliband was also speaking.
Soon after the panel discussion began, some activists in the audience jumped up and started chanting slogans, and the protester panelist walked off the stage.
Other members of the audience told the activists to "shut up" and arguments disrupted the panel for about 20 minutes. The discussion then resumed, without the Occupy panelist.
___
Anja Niedringhaus and Paolo Santalucia contributed to this report.
CHECK OUT OTHER NUDE DEMONSTRATIONS FROM AROUND THE WORLD:
Loading Slideshow
Naked Protests
Hundreds of nude and semi-nude cyclists demanding that authorities stop the hostilities bicyclists face from motorists, hold up their bikes in unison at the start of their "Naked Bike," protest in Lima, Peru, Saturday March 10, 2012. This is the seventh consecutive year of the annual protest in which cyclists take to the streets in Lima to bring attention to the unsafe conditions for cyclists in the Peruvian capital. (AP Photo/Karel Navarro)
British police officers stop model Sophie Barrett, who as part of a PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) demonstration, stripped down to nothing but panties and paint markings that mimic a butcher's diagram of animal body parts, protesting the meat industry by standing behind a poster that reads, "All Animals Have the Same Parts: Abolish Meat" at the Piccadilly Circus in central London, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
As part of a PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) demonstration, model Sophie Barrett, stripped down to nothing but panties and paint markings that mimic a butcher's diagram of animal body parts, poses for the photographers as she protests the meat industry by standing behind a poster that reads, "All Animals Have the Same Parts: Abolish Meat" at the Piccadilly Circus in central London, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
Half naked and caged activists of the animal rights group 'Igualdad Animal' (Equality Animal) symbolically sit in cages to denounce the slaying of animals to make fur coats, in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Half naked and caged activists of the animal rights group 'Igualdad Animal' (Equality Animal) symbolically sit in cages to denounce the slaying of animals to make fur coats, in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012.(AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Olivia Munn
Olivia Munn unveils a new naked Anti-Fur bullentin board on Jan. 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, Calif.
Naked Protests
An activist of Ukrainian women's right movement FEMEN shows a red card as she poses bare-chested with a message written on her back reading "EURO-2012 without prostitution" as she protest during the start of the countdown marking the beginning of the official start of UEFA EURO 2012 on June 8, 2011 in Kiev, which will be hosted in Ukraine and Poland and planned to start on June 8, 2012. (Sergei Supinsky, AFP/Getty Images)
Naked Protests
Policemen arrest and cover an activist of the Ukrainian feminist movement FEMEN activists on December 17, 2010 during topless protest in front of the Cabinet of Ministers building against the absence of women in Prime Minister Mykola Azarov's newly reorganized government. (Sergei Supinsky, AFP/Getty Images)
Naked Protests
Topless members of FEMEN, a Ukrainian women's rights group, clashed with a security guard outside the Georgian embassy in Kiev on July 18.
Naked Protests
Protesters wearing diapers demonstrate in Valencia on June 19, 2011, blaming bankers and politicians for causing a financial crisis that forced the country to adopt painful spending cuts. Similar demonstrators were also held in Madrid and Barcelona. (Jose Jordan, AFP/Getty Images)
Naked Protests
Code Pink for Peace demonstrator Jay Marx protests the resignation of State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley and the detention of U.S. Army Private Bradley Manning in front of the U.S. State Department March 14, 2011 in Washington, DC. The demonstrators stripped their clothing off to protest against the treatment of Manning, who has been allegedly held naked in a Marine Corps base in Virginia after being accused of leaking information to the Wikileaks website. (Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images)
Naked Protests
A naked protester climbs a tree in front of the Big Ben at the Parliament Square during a May day demonstration in central London on May 1, 2010. (Ben Stansall, AFP/Getty Images)
Naked Protests
A naked demonstrator is arrested during clashes in the surroundings of the Congress in Valparaiso, at the same time Chilean President Sebastian Piñera delivers his annual message to the nation on May 21, 2011.(Claudio Santana, AFP/Getty Images)
Naked Protests
Indian policemen arrest a Tibetan activist wearing only his underwear during a protest in New Delhi on April 13, 2009. Tibetan students organised a naked protest at the Chinese embassy against the ongoing situation in Tibet. A court in Tibet has condemned two people to die for their roles in violent riots in Lhasa last year, China's state media said on April 8, the first death sentences reported over the deadly unrest. (Prakash Singh, AFP/Getty Images)
Naked Protests
Naked demonstrators ride their bicycles at the Zocalo Square, in Mexico City, on June 13, 2009, as part of a worldwide naked cycling protest against cars, gas emission and agressive drivers. Nude cyclists are expected to ride through the streets of cities around the world, to highlight the vulnerability of cyclists on the road and protest against oil dependency, organisers said. (AFP/Getty Images)
Naked Protests
A naked man talks to a police officer near the Bank of England in London, on April 1, 2009. Angry protestors smashed through police lines and broke into a bank in London's financial district on Wednesday, amid ugly scenes on the eve of the G20 economic summit in London. Riot police on horseback had to force back demonstrators who attacked a branch of the state-controlled lender Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) in central London. (Bruno Vincent, AFP/Getty Images)
Naked Protests
South Korean prostitutes in underwear and covered in body and face paint, douse themselves in flammable liquid in an apparent attempt to burn themselves after a rally in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, May 17, 2011. Hundreds of prostitutes and pimps rallied Tuesday near a red-light district in Seoul to protest a police crackdown on brothels, with some unsuccessfully attempting to set themselves on fire.
Loading comments… 
FRANK JORDANS 01/28/12 09:59 AM ET Associated Press