Putin appeared to get caught sleeping during the opening ceremony at the Beijing Olympics

• Vladimir Putin was at Beijing's National Stadium to watch the Olympic opening ceremony in person.
• While Ukraine marched in the parade of nations, the Russian president appeared to fall asleep.

Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to China to watch the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics live and in person.

But he appeared to miss part of the festivities while taking a cat nap in the stands.

Cameras caught the Russian leader sleeping during the parade of nations. As athletes from Ukraine marched into Beijing's National Stadium — better known as the Bird's Nest — cameras caught Putin slumping in his chair with his eyes flitting as if he had just awoken from slumber.

The moment was especially awkward given Ukraine's uncertain status at present. Russia has reportedly amassed more than 100,000 troops on the nations' shared border as the country considers an invasion.

Check out a clip of the bizarre scene from MRCTV's Twitter.

Putin headed to Beijing for the games despite Russia's supposed absence from the Winter Olympics. Well ahead of the games, the International Olympic Committee slapped the country with a four-year Olympic ban due to widespread doping violations and a state-sanctioned cover-up.

The sanctions prohibit Russian athletes — who will compete as the Russian Olympic Committee, or ROC — from competing under their flag or hearing their national anthem played at the games. Still, the nation's representatives sported Russia's white, blue, and red flag on their sleeves during Friday's ceremony.

Putin was wide awake by the time the Russian Olympic Committee walked into the stadium. He stood and gestured to the Russian athletes as they marched across the floor.

And the official Twitter account of the Kremlin shared photos from the event: