A clip has resurfaced online of Russian leader Vladimir Putin singing Fats Domino’s classic song ‘Blueberry Hill,’ and has been taking the internet by storm.
In the clip, Putin can be seen giving an impassioned performance of the gentle tune on a modest stage for a live audience. Needless to say, this fills out a square on our 2022 bingo card that I don’t think anyone anticipated. The clip speaks for itself.
The video can be dated to a St Petersberg charity event held back in 2010, with many familiar faces gracing the audience. Some such figures include Goldie Hawn, Kevin Costner, and Kurt Russell, who, when the camera pans to the audience, can be seen applauding and cheering.
At the time of the video’s recording, Putin was not Russia’s president as he is today, having acted in the role twice, once from 2000-2008, and again from 2012 to the present day. At the time of the clip, Putin was acting as Russia’s prime minister, an appointed head of government who is overseen by the president. Putin, inbetween his tenures as president, served as the Russian prime minister between the years of 1999-2000 and again between 2008-2012.
The clip has resurfaced largely due to Putin’s instigation of the current invasion of Ukarine, where an estimated 406 civilians have been killed as a result of Russian aggression.
As the current conflict continues, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the current president of Ukraine, addressed the UK House of Commons on 8th March, redoubling on the sentiment that the Ukrainian people will not fold to their Russian aggressors. Ukranian and Russian foreign ministers initiated in talks in the attempts of reaching the agreed-upon terms for a ceasefire following Russia’s bombing of a hospital for children. The talks are said to have ‘failed to yield progress on a ceasefire,’ according to the BBC.
