British Prime Minister, Andy Burnham was spotted playing music from The Smiths on guitar with a Ukrainian soldier during a recent visit to Kyiv.
On what was his first international visit since taking office at Westminster, Mr Burnham went to the country's military and artistic unit, who work on the front lines, at rehabilitation centres, as well as hospitals.
During his visit to the unit's mobile recording studio, a soldier gave Andy Burnham a guitar and they began to play a riff from 'Rusholme Ruffians' from the Smith's 1985 album, 'Meat Is Murder'.
“I’m out of practice, a little bit", Burnham joked afterwards. “It’s a song by a Manchester band called The Smiths".
It was also reported in The Independent that soldiers also sang an Oasis song with Prime Minister, Burnham, who added that music can help "lift spirits" on the front line.
Burmham's visit to Ukraine also saw him join a meeting hosted by Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelenksyy of the country's European allies in Kyiv as they celebrated independence day, amid its ongoing conflict with Russia.
Dubbed 'Coalition of the Willing', the meeting was chaired by the leaders of Britain, France, and Germany, and also included Taoiseach Micheál Martin who joined the meeting online.
Ahead of the meeting, Mr Martin said: “Ukraine continues to demonstrate tremendous resilience and courage in the face of relentless Russian attacks”.
“I strongly condemn these actions which have led to significant loss of life and risk further humanitarian crises and call on Russia to end its war".
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