Russia's Ruling Pair Dance Cartoon TV Duet

Sky News Online
Russian TV viewers were treated to a surprise cartoon duet from their President and Prime Minister immediately after the latter's official New Year's Eve address.

In the two-and-a-half-minute animation, caricatures of President Dmitri Medvedev and his sidekick Prime Minister Vladimir Putin reviewed their year in a jaunty ditty while playing the accordion and tambourine on Red Square.

The ruling pair take turns to sing lines in the song, and when one of the men embellishes his performance with a flourish, he is immediately congratulated by his partner.

At one point the judo black belt Putin slaps his own bottom with his tambourine.

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in a cartoon duet reviewing 2009

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in an unusual guise. Pic from 'Mult Lichnosti'

Russians are more used to seeing him hunting with a gun or sitting in the cockpit of a fighter jet.

When President Medvedev wishes the Russian people "A Happy New Year for the second time", his predecessor gently reminds him that "one of us has done that nine times already".

There's an indication that this comedic appearance was not just a one-off.

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in a cartoon duet reviewing 2009

Putin & Medvedev indulge in a bit of cossack dancing. Pic from 'Mult Lichnosti'

The pair have been added to the cast of Mult Lichnosti, a twice-weekly show poking fun at political figures which runs on Russia's state-owned Channel One.

The station's director, Konstantin Ernst, said that he was not obliged to consult the Kremlin before developing his latest characters.

"We have to be careful," he told the New York Times.

"One shouldn't do anything insulting.

"In any case, our authors have no desire to insult them."

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