Riot policemen disperse protesters in the town of Baymak in Russia's central Bashkortostan region on January 17, 2024, after a court sentenced a local activist to four years in prison. Fail Alsynov, who campaigns against gold mining in the Urals region and advocates for the protection of the large ethnic Bashkir population's language, was sentenced for “inciting hatred” in the town of Baymak. (Photo by Anya Marchenkova/AFP Photo)





A rescuer stands next to an Orthodox believer preparing to plunge into the icy waters of the Ob river during the celebration of the Epiphany holiday in Novosibirsk on January 19, 2024. Among Orthodox Christians, the feast of Epiphany celebrates the day the spirit of God descended upon believers in the shape of a dove during Jesus Christ's baptism in the river Jordan. (Photo by Vladimir Nikolayev/AFP Photo)





An Orthodox Christian takes a dip in the icy waters while marking the feast of Epiphany in Moscow, Russia on January 19, 2024. (Photo by Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters)





A Russian Orthodox believer dips in the icy water during a traditional Epiphany celebration, in St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, January 19, 2024. Thousands of Russian Orthodox Church followers plunged into icy rivers and ponds across the country to mark Epiphany, cleansing themselves with water deemed holy for the day. The temperature in St.Petersburg is –4 Celsius (24 Fahrenheit). (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)





A woman stands on a stairs covered with icicles before taking a dip in icy water during during celebrations of the Orthodox Christian feast of Epiphany at the Achairsky Monastery in the Omsk Region, Russia on January 19, 2024. (Photo by Alexey Malgavko/Reuters)





An Orthodox Christian takes a dip in the icy water while marking the feast of Epiphany in Moscow, Russia on January 19, 2024. (Photo by Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters)





A man crosses himself as other people lineup to bath into the icy water on Epiphany during a traditional Epiphany at the Great Palace Pond with the Church of the Holy Trinity in Ostankino in the background in Moscow, Russia, on Friday, January 19, 2024. Across Russia, the devout and the daring are observing the Orthodox Christian feast day of Epiphany by immersing themselves in frigid water through holes cut through the ice of lakes and rivers. Epiphany celebrates the revelation of Jesus Christ as the incarnation of God through his baptism in the River Jordan. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo)





A Russian Orthodox believer dips in the icy water during a traditional Epiphany celebration, in St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, January 19, 2024. Thousands of Russian Orthodox Church followers plunged into icy rivers and ponds across the country to mark Epiphany, cleansing themselves with water deemed holy for the day. The temperature in St.Petersburg is –4 Celsius (24 Fahrenheit). (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)





A woman bathes into the icy water on Epiphany during a traditional Epiphany at the Great Palace Pond with the Church of the Holy Trinity in Ostankino in the background in Moscow, Russia, on Thursday, January 18, 2024. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo)





In this photo taken from video released by Governor of Bryansk Region Alexander Bogomaz telegram channel AV BogomaZ on Friday, January 19, 2024, Russian Emergency Ministry employees work at the side of fire of oil reservoirs after the drone reached Klintsy, a city in Bryansk Region of Russia, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) from the Russia-Ukrainian border. A Russian official says a Ukrainian drone has struck an oil storage depot in western Russia, causing a massive blaze. (Photo by Governor of Bryansk Region Alexander Bogomaz telegram channel AV BogomaZ via AP Photo)





In this photo released by Telegram Channel of head of the Kingisepp district administration Yuri Zapalatskiy, fire fighters extinguish the blaze at Russia's second-largest natural gas producer, Novatek in Ust-Luga, 165 kilometers southwest of St. Petersburg, Russia, Sunday, January 21, 2024. Fire broke out at a chemical transport terminal at Russia's Ust-Luga port Sunday following two explosions, regional officials reported. Local media reported that the port had been attacked by Ukrainian drones, causing a gas tank to explode. (Photo by Telegram Channel of head of the Kingisepp district administration Yuri Zapalatskiy via AP Photo)





A man walks past a snow-covered aluminium bust depicting Soviet state founder Vladimir Illitch Lenin created by Soviet sculptor Grigory Yastrebenetsky in a park of a museum complex in Razliv, outside Saint Petersburg, on January, 21, 2024. On January 21, 2024, Russia marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Vladimir Illitch Lenin, who was placed in the mausoleum in Moscow, despite his wish to be buried near his mother at the Volkovo cemetery in Saint Petersburg. (Photo by Olga Maltseva/AFP Photo)





People walk past a snow-covered bronze monument depicting Soviet state founder Vladimir Lenin and created by Soviet sculptor Matvey Kharlamov in a park of a museum complex in Razliv, outside Saint Petersburg, on January 21, 2024. On January 21 Russia marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Vladimir Illitch Lenin, who was placed in the mausoleum in Moscow, despite his wish to be buried near his mother at the Volkovo cemetery in Saint Petersburg. (Photo by Olga Maltseva/AFP Photo)





People take photos near the decorations set for the Chinese New Year (Year of the Dragon) next to a Chinese restaurant in the city center, Moscow, Russia on January 21, 2024. (Photo by Pelagiya Tihonova/Anadolu via Getty Images)





Daria Trepova talks with lawyer Daniel Berman during an off-site court hearing at the First Western District Military court in St. Petersburg, Russia, 22 January 2024. Trepova, who was arrested in April 2023, is accused of carrying out the attack that killed blogger Vladlen Tatarsky (Maxim Fomin) and injured 40 others during an explosion at a cafe in St. Petersburg. She is facing up to 28 years in prison. (Photo by Anatoly Maltsev/EPA/EFE)





Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, poses for a photo with participants of the Russian Family Forum “Relatives and Loved Ones” at the Russia Expo international exhibition and forum at the VDNKh (The Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy) in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, January 23, 2024. (Photo by Sergei Karpukhin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP Photo)





Fishermen walk while ice fishing on the Gulf of Finland in front of the crude oil tanker Sea Luck III, in St. Petersburg, Russia, 24 January 2024. The temperatures in St. Petersburg have reached four degrees Celsius. (Photo by Anatoly Maltsev/EPA/EFE)





A visitor walks past a screen displaying an icon inside the Russian Defence Ministry pavilion at Russia Expo, an exhibition designed to demonstrate Russia's main achievements in culture and technology, at the All-Russia Exhibition Centre (VDNH) in Moscow on January 24, 2024. (Photo by Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP Photo)





Igor Girkin also know as Igor Strelkov, the former military chief for Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, sits in a glass cage in a courtroom at the Moscow's City Court in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, January 25, 2024. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo)





Women lay flowers in memory of those who were killed in the plane on Wednesday, at the memorial to soldiers who died in the Great Patriotic War “Enternal Flame” in Yablonovo, Belgorod region, Thursday, January 25, 2024. A Russian military transport plane crashed in a border region near Ukraine. Moscow accused Kyiv of shooting it down and said that all 74 people aboard were killed on Wednesday. Russia said the fatalities included 65 Ukrainian POWs. (Photo by AP Photo)