A 2S5 Giatsint self- propelled gun fires during tactical exercises held by artillery detachments of the Russian Eastern Military District' s 5th Army at the Sergeyevsky training ground in Primorye Territory, Russia on March 21, 2017. Over 2500 servicemen practice combat skills received in 2017 winter training exercises. (Photo by Yuri Smityuk/TASS)

To an outsider, their passion is at times illegal and often on the verge of life and death. But climbing rooftops of high-rise buildings and exploring abandoned facilities is in the blood of these young Muscovites. The small group calls itself “Rudex”, which stands for “roof and decay exploration”, and is akin a Western youth craze known as urbex or “urban exploration” of man-made structures. Here: Urban explorer Vad Him of Rudex team jumps whilst on a rooftop in Moscow, Russia, August 14, 2017. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

Students of the Krasnoyarsk choreographic college Anastasia Shevtsova (R) and Yulia Lyakhovykh do leg-splits as they study for an exam and a performance by the graduates at the State Theatre of Opera and Ballet, at the college's campus in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, May 4, 2017. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

A boy shoots a World War II machine gun armed with blanks at an weapon exhibition during a military show near Kirovsk, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) east of St. Petersburg, Russia, Sunday, January 21, 2018. (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)

At the Krasnopresnenskaya station, the benches come from the Cathedral of Christ-Sauveur, which was built from 1839 to 1883 in memory of the victory of Russia against the army of Napoleon I. The cathedral was destroyed under Stalin in 1931, but the benches remained intact. Metro architects decided to install them in some stations. (Photo by Didier Bizet/The Washington Post)

Artist German Vinogradov acts in the performance of the burning of installation, devoted to Maslenitsa, or Pancake Week, a pagan holiday marking the end of winter, in the village of Nikola-Lenivets, Kaluga region, Russia, February 17, 2018. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks via video call during a news conference in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, December 17, 2020. This year, Putin attended his annual news conference online due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo)

Musicians in Father Frost costumes ride along Nevsky Avenue on the Dedmorobus (portmanteau of “Father Frost” and “bus”) musical bus to entertain citizens ahead of New Year celebrations in St Petersburg, Russia on December 28, 2020. (Photo by Alexander Demianchuk/TASS)