The eyes of the world have been on Russian President Vladimir?Putin?ever since he ordered a full-scale?invasion?of Ukraine on February 24. While he has taken centre stage in world affairs, he once made headlines for taking an actual stage.
An old clip has resurfaced online showing Putin belting out?classic rock song?'Blueberry Hill' during?karaoke at a charity concert in 2010.?
In the video, Putin crooned out the 1958 song?at a star-studded charity dinner in Saint Petersburg in?December 2010.?
In the audience, viewers can see Sharon Stone, Kevin Costner, Kurt Russell, Goldie Hawn and Monica Bellucci among others.?
Putin, who was then serving as the prime minister took to the stage to say, "Like an overwhelming majority of people, I can neither sing nor play but I very much like doing it," before he began his rendition of the song.?
'Blueberry Hill' is a popular American song that was first?released in the 1940s but is?best remembered for its 1950s?rock and roll?version by?Fats Domino.
While Putin has been president of Russia since 1999, he became prime minister from 2008-2012 in a power-switching operation with Dmitry Medvedev to get around term limits on Putin's presidency.
After the length of a presidential term was extended to six years under Medvedev, Putin reclaimed the presidency in 2012 and won another term in 2018.??
He will, in all probability, be seeking another term in 2024.?
Meanwhile,?Russia's invasion of?Ukraine?has entered into its 15th day. Russian troops are bombarding major cities in Ukraine, and while they have faced setbacks on the battlefield ¡ª Kremlin seems undeterred from its campaign to take Ukraine.??
The toll of this conflict is growing. The?UN?has said that, as of March 8,?more than 474 civilians have been confirmed killed?and 861 more have been wounded.?
The UN said the true toll likely is "considerably higher, especially in the government-controlled territory and especially in recent days, as the receipt of information from some locations where intense hostilities have been going on has been delayed" and many reports are pending corroboration.??
The UN's refugee agency on Tuesday said that 2 million Ukrainians had fled the country, most of them to Poland.?
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