Fireworks explode over the Kremlin in Red Square which was blocked by police during New Year celebrations in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, January 1, 2017. New Year's Eve is Russia's major gift-giving holiday, and big Russian cities were awash in festive lights and decorations. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr./AP Photo)

A Ukrainian woman carrying groceries walks on August 8, 2022 past a cordoned location where a man died in a Russian cluster-bomb attack Monday morning local time in Kharkiv outside a residential area, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Moscow continues to bear down on Ukraine with ferocity, especially in Donetsk and Luhansk. (Photo by Daniel Ceng Shou-Yi/ZUMA Press Wire/Alamy Live News)

A Ukrainian soldier smiles in front of a city sign reading ''I Love Izium'' in Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Tuesday, September 14, 2022. Ukrainian troops piled pressure on retreating Russian forces pressing deeper into occupied territory and sending more Kremlin troops fleeing ahead of the counteroffensive that has inflicted a stunning blow on Moscow's military prestige. (Photo by Kostiantyn Liberov/AP Photo)

ISS Expedition 66 main crew member, actress Yulia Peresild blows a kiss through a bus window as she leaves for the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on October 5, 2021. The launch of the Soyuz MS-19 mission to be involved in making the feature film “The Challenge” (working title) aboard the International Space Station is scheduled for 5 October 2021 at 11:55 Moscow time from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. (Photo by Sergei Savostyanov/TASS)

Ukrainian servicemen of the State Border Guard Service wait for an order to move to the mortar position at the entrance of the shelter in Bakhmut on February 16, 2023, as the head of Russia's mercenary outfit Wagner said it could take months to capture the embattled Ukraine city and slammed Moscow's “monstrous bureaucracy” for slowing military gains. (Photo by Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP Photo)

A pro-Russian activist aims a pistol at supporters of the Kiev government during clashes in the streets of Odessa May 2, 2014. Police said a man was shot dead in clashes between a crowd backing Kiev and pro-Russian activists in the largely Russian-speaking southern port of Odessa, which lies west of Crimea, annexed by Moscow in March. (Photo by Yevgeny Volokin/Reuters)

In this photo taken on Sunday, March 15, 2015, a Nenets woman rides steers a sled during a reindeer race at the Reindeer Herder's Day in the city of Nadym, in Yamal-Nenets Region, 2500 kilometers (about 1553 miles) northeast of Moscow, Russia. For the indigenous nomadic Nenets people, the Reindeer Herder's Day offers a chance to show their prowess in wrestling, high jumps and other traditional local sports, but, above all, reindeer races. (Photo by Dmitry Lovetsky/AP Photo)

Denis and Nelya, both 30, from Moscow, Russia invited brown bear Stepan along to their very special ceremony. As well as witnessing the couple exchange vows, the bear also played the role of registrar at one point. Denis said: “We both knew Stepan is a very kind bear but still it is a huge, unpredictable animal so we were a bit scared, but still happy to be able to make our dream come true. It was a fantastic experience to have this photoshoot with Stepan”. (Photo by Olga Barantseva/Caters News)