A mobile phone cover with a picture of Russian President Vladimir Putin and which reads “Mr President” is seen in this photo illustration taken a in hotel room in Kazan, Russia, July 30, 2015. He may be in charge of an economy in crisis, but if mobile phone covers and souvenir mugs are a barometer of popularity, Russian President Vladimir Putin need not fear for his political future. In fact, Moscow's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine last year has given the memorabilia makers even more material to glorify, sometimes wryly, a president whose image as a champion of Russian national interests in a hostile world is barely challenged in his own country. (Photo by Stefan Wermuth/Reuters)

Every year, in the Rostov region of Russia, a group of 40 young and not so young rural workers compete in the Bison Track Show, or more affectionately known as: Russian Flying Tractor Racing. In front of crowds numbering up to 30,000 people, a series of smoke spilling, monstrous farming machines tear round an 8km mud track, plowing through lakes and dirt mounds, their turbos screaming and tyres scrabbling to find grip.

A Husky dog looks on before a sled and skijoring race in the village of Kadnikovo outside Yekaterinburg, Russia, December 10, 2016. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

Fire fighters, emergency service vehicles and a helicopter in Moskovsky Prospekt at the entrance to Tekhnologichesky Institut station of the St Petersburg metro in the aftermath of an explosion which occurred in a train at 14:40 Moscow timeon April 3, 2017. (Photo by Peter Kovalev/TASS)

Russian Communist Party supporters take part in a memorial ceremony to mark the 96th anniversary of the death of Russian communist revolutionary Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, also known as Lenin, at Red Square in downtown Moscow on January 21, 2020. (Photo by Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP Photo)

A specialist from a local veterinary service wears a protective suit as sprays disinfectant near Russian tanks displayed at area near Proryv (The Breakthrough) museum dedicated to the breakthrough of the Siege of Leningrad during World WarII near Kirovsk, about 30 kilometres (19 miles) east of St.Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, April 2, 2020. (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)

A man and a woman take a selfie on Russian Navy Day in St Petersburg, Russia on July 26, 2020. (Photo by Roman Pimenov/TASS)

Yakutsk, with a population of around 270,000, holds its own title: that of the coldest city on Earth. Here: Frost-encrusted house in the city centre. (Photo by Amos Chapple/Courtesy Images/RFE/RL)