Police officers with a sniffer dog check a railway as the Soyuz MS spacecraft for the next International Space Station (ISS) crew of Kate Rubins of the U.S., Anatoly Ivanishin of Russia and Takuya Onishi of Japan is ready to be transported from an assembling hangar to the launchpad ahead of its launch scheduled on July 7, at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan July 4, 2016. (Photo by Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)

In this photo taken on Saturday, March 9, 2019, a visitor dances in front of a sculpture burning at the Maslenitsa (Shrovetide) festival at the Nikola-Lenivets art park in Nikola-Lenivets village, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) south-west of Moscow, Russia. As part of the celebrations of Maslenitsa (Shrovetide) Holiday in Russian, a folk holiday which heralds the beginning of spring, contemporary artist and park founder Nikolay Polissky built a giant sculpture made of wood and hay which was burnt to ashes during a traditional bonfire. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr./AP Photo)

A member of the “Sibspas” Siberian search and rescue group dressed as Santa Claus (R), waits for his team mate, dressed as Father Frost, the Russian equivalent of Santa Claus, as he climbs the rock named “The Fourth Stolb” (the Fourth Pillar) at the Stolby national nature reserve during a training session of the Russian Emergencies Ministry, outside the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia December 15, 2015. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

A Russian Orthodox believers dips in the icy water during a traditional Epiphany celebration in St. Petersburg, Russia, Wednesday, January 19, 2022. Thousands of Russian Orthodox Church followers plunged into icy rivers and ponds across the country to mark Epiphany, cleansing themselves with water deemed holy for the day. The temperature in St. Petersburg is –1C (30F). (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)

Russian Olympic Committee's goaltender Mariia Sorokina (foreground L) and teammate Veronika Korzhakova (foreground R) attempt to stop a shot by Switzerland's Phoebe Staenz (R) during the women's preliminary round group A match of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games ice hockey competition between players of Russia's Olympic Committee and Switzerland, at the National Indoor Stadium in Beijing on February 4, 2022. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Reuters)

Polar frame, by Dmitry Kokh, Russia. When Kokh’s boat approached the small island of Kolyuchin in the Russian High Arctic, which had been abandoned by humans since 1992, he was surprised to spot movement in one of the houses. Binoculars revealed polar bears – more than 20 in total – exploring the ghost town. Dmitry used a low-noise drone to document them. (Photo by Dmitry Kokh/Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2022)

A street performer walks past an image of a Russian serviceman reading “The Motherland we defend” at a street exhibition of military photos in St. Petersburg, Russia, Tuesday, March 14, 2023. A campaign to replenish Russian troops in Ukraine with more soldiers appears to be underway again, with makeshift recruitment centers popping up in cities and towns, and state institutions posting ads promising cash bonuses and benefits to entice men to sign contracts enabling them to be sent into the battlefield. (Photo by AP Photo/Stringer)

Armenian police officers detain a protestor during an opposition rally in the Freedom Square in Yerevan, Armenia, 12 November 2020. Protesters demanded the resignation of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his government. The unrest and protest erupted in Yerevan on 10 November 2020 after Armenian Prime Minister and Presidents of Azerbaijan and Russia signed a trilateral statement announcing the halt of ceasefire and all military operations in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone. (Photo by Stepan Poghosyan/EPA/EFE)