A placard featuring an image of Russian President Vladimir Putin and reading “We are with him for the sovereignty of Russia! And you?” is seen left in front of the Russian State Duma building in central Moscow on February 24, 2022. (Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP Photo)

A worker cleans a statue of the founder of the Soviet Union Vladimir Lenin at Moscow Square in front of the House of Soviets in Saint-Petersburg on April 21, 2022. (Photo by Olga Maltseva/AFP Photo)

Orthodox believers participate in a procession in St. Petersburg, Russia, 12 September 2022. The procession marks the 298th anniversary of the transfer of the relics of St. Alexander Nevsky, who is considered to be a heavenly protector of St. Petersburg. (Photo by Anatoly Maltsev/EPA/EFE)

People take pictures near a Soviet flag flying on an embankment in Saint Petersburg, Russia on June 17, 2023. The flags of Russia, the USSR, and the Russian Empire were installed on the shore to mark the anniversaries of each flag's adoption. (Photo by Anton Vaganov/Reuters)

A woman holds a portrait of Alexei Navalny and a book titled “A saint against the Reich” as people gather outside the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God Soothe My Sorrows, in Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 1, 2024. Relatives and supporters of Alexei Navalny are bidding farewell to the opposition leader at a funeral in southeastern Moscow, following a battle with authorities over the release of his body after his still-unexplained death in an Arctic penal colony. (Photo by AP Photo)

Members of an electoral commission destroy unused ballots, after polling stations closed on the final day of the presidential election in Saint Petersburg, Russia on March 17, 2024. (Photo by Anton Vaganov/Reuters)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, uses a binocular, as Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, left, and chief of Russia's military's General Staff Valery Gerasimov, right, observe military exercises near the Baikal Lake on Wednesday, July 17, 2013. (Photo by Alexei Nikolsky/AP Photo/RIA Novosti/Presidential Press Service)