Gymnast Valeria Kurochkina from Yekaterinburg performs during the Circus of Our Childhood festival at the Yekaterinburg Circus in Yekaterinburg, Russia on December 7, 2019. The festival marks the centenary of establishing state circuses in Russia. (Photo by Donat Sorokin/TASS)

South Korea's Shim Sukhee falls in the women's 1,500m short track speed skating heat event during the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, at the Gangneung Ice Arena in Gangneung on February 17, 2018. (Photo by Mladen Antonov/AFP Photo)

In modern Russia there are no free elections, therefore the political elite is almost constant.

Photo: Valentina Matvienko, Mayor of St. Petersburg, attends the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on June 17, 2011 in St. Petersburg, Russia. Global business leaders have gathered in Russia for the three-day conference. (Photo by Alexander Aleshkin/Epsilon/Getty Images)

Dancers perform during the opening ceremony before the Russia 2018 World Cup Group A football match between Russia and Saudi Arabia at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on June 14, 2018. (Photo by Sergei Bobylev/TASS via Getty Images)

Mini-pigs perform during the presentation in Balashikha, Russia on December 19, 2018. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

A view shows a church in front of a high-rise apartment building in Saint Petersburg, Russia on October 30, 2019. (Photo by Anton Vaganov/Reuters)

Cars slowly move along a bridge in traffic jam in central Moscow, Russia on December 11, 2018. (Photo by Yuri Kadobnov/AFP Photo)

School leavers celebrate their graduation in Moscow's Red Square in Moscow, Russia on June 20, 2019. (Photo by Artyom Geodakyan/TASS)