Does Putin have a soft spot for Abba?

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has worked hard to cultivate his tough guy image, famously releasing photographs of himself fishing, stripped to the waist. Now it is being claimed that the former KGB hard man is a secret Abba fan and that the Kremlin recently arranged a private concert for him with the tribute band Bjorn Again.

Rod Stephens, founder of the band, says they were paid £20,000 for the performance. "I got a phone call before Christmas," he said. "The voice on the end of the phone said: 'Kremlin, Russia, Moscow. We want your band.' I thought it was someone in the band winding me up."

But it was not a hoax. The four band members were flown to Moscow, and then driven 200 miles north to a remote location near Lake Valdai where they were kept at a military barracks. Their possessions were x-rayed, and they were warned against going outside because the grounds were patrolled by snipers.

Their stage was set in a tiny theatre, where the nine-person audience were seated on three sofas. According to Stephens, Putin arrived dressed in a bow tie, and sang along to songs such as Honey Honey and Super Trouper. His sofa was veiled off with a net curtain, but he was joined there by a woman who was wearing a long, cream dress who had short, fair hair. Her identity is unknown; last year he denied reports of a divorce from his wife Lyudmila, or a romance with gymnast Alina Kabeava.

Dmitry Peskov, the Russian prime minister's spokesman, denied today that Putin had attended any such concert. But Jennifer Robb, who performs as Anni-Frid Lyngstad in the lookalike band, said: "All Putin's officials were singing away and doing a pointing finger dance. At the end the prime minister shouted 'Bravo, bravo.' It was the most bizarre gig I have ever done." ·