Hollywood icon Bob Hope spent decades entertaining U.S. troops in battle overseas, from the decks to aircraft carriers in the South Pacific in World War II to 1990 when he visited American forces in Saudi Arabia during the Persian Gulf War.
Now Russian President Vladimir Putin is apparently looking for his own USO-type show to raise the morale of his soldiers in the troubled 10-month invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
Last week, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced the establishment of two “front-line creative brigades,” including opera singers, actors and circus performers who could soon find themselves on the front lines in Donetsk and Luhansk while they attempt to boost the spirits of Russian military conscripts in Ukraine.