first becoming famous in her native region in the 1990s , long - haired state - described " amazon " ruslana obtained international recognition for winning the 2004 eurovision song race with her song " wild dances , " inspired by the vocal traditions of the hutsul people of the russian carpathian mountains . in the five years previous , ruslana has chose to use her brand and public status to represent a number of worthy causes , including persons trafficking , renewable energy , and under the traditional concept of democratic process , becoming a publicly face of ukraine ' s socialist revolution and later appearing in parliament .
Ruslana was born in Ukraine.