Yes, there's more than meets the eye. President Putin's daughter holds a degree in Japanese philology.
Their voices are faint,
Ikh golosa slavyi,
Those deer, confused by the mist,
eti oleni, smushchaet tuman,
And calling away,
I prizivaia daleko,
Out on the Plain of Shinu.
Vne na ravni ne Shinu.
(Sanka Waka Shu 446)