AFP - Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev plays an accordion and turns pirouettes while strongman Prime Minister Vladimir Putin performs traditional dances while thwacking a tambourine on his bottom, in a surprise cartoon segment on state television Friday.

It may only have been a cartoon, but the two-and-a-half-minute segment gently mocking Russia's ruling tandem was a major surprise for Russians used to stern-faced messages from their leaders.

The cartoon on Channel One television was broadcast just after Medvedev's own official New Year address and showed cartoon figures of the ruling tandem performing a jovial duet commenting on the year 2009.

It shows the two standing on a cartoon Red Square with the Kremlin in the background dressed in suits and dancing with their voices dubbed by eerily-good impersonators.

The accordion-playing Medvedev started the skit with a neat jump and shout of "hopa!" to which Putin replied: "Well done!" "Now your turn," said Medvedev.

The cartoon Putin gamely hit the tambourine against his backside. "Great!" said Medvedev, admiringly.

Using rhyming couplets and the elaborate wordplays beloved of Russians, the sketch gently poked fun at the situation created by the sharing of power by Medvedev and his Kremlin predecessor and mentor Putin.

"I, for the second time, congratulate the people on the New Year," declaimed Medvedev, who took over from Putin in May 2008 after a meteoric ascendancy.

"I know. But someone here has congratulated them nine times," pointed out the cartoon Putin. "Yes, I remember," conceded Medvedev.

Putin became president on December 31, 1999 when then president Boris Yeltsin resigned. Despite ceding the Kremlin to Medvedev and becoming prime minister, Putin is still believed to be Russia's de-facto number one.

Television cartoons of Russian leaders have been a virtual taboo over the last half decade.

The wildly-popular puppet show Kukli (dolls) which wickedly satirized Yeltsin and then Putin, was taken off air in 2002 allegedly after official pressure.

Finally, the Medvedev and Putin sing in unison: "We would sing more couplets for you but alas we cannot forget our duties. Friends, Happy New Year."