People attend a wreath laying commemoration ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the break of Nazi's siege of Leningrad, (now St. Petersburg) during World War Two at the monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad, in St. Petersburg, Russia, Wednesday, January 18, 2023. The Red Army broke the nearly 900-day blockade of the city on January 18, 1943 after fierce fighting. (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)





A man takes a dip in icy water during celebrations of the Orthodox Christian feast of Epiphany in Krasnoyarsk, Russia on January 19, 2023. (Photo by Alexander Manzyuk/Reuters)





A believer plunges into icy water during celebrations of the Orthodox Christian feast of Epiphany near Achairsky Monastery in the Omsk region, Russia on January 19, 2023. (Photo by Alexey Malgavko/Reuters)





A Russian Orthodox believer dips with his daughter in the icy water during a traditional Epiphany celebration in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, January 19, 2023. 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 temperatures in St.Petersburg is +3 Celsius (37 Fahrenheit). (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)





Believers bathe in the icy water during a traditional Epiphany at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Ostankino near TV Tower in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, January 18, 2023. Across Russia, the devout and the daring are observing the Orthodox Christian feast day of Epiphany by immersing themselves in frigid water through holes cut through the ice of lakes and rivers. Epiphany celebrates the revelation of Jesus Christ as the incarnation of God through his baptism in the River Jordan. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo)





A Russian Orthodox believer dips in the icy water during a traditional Epiphany celebration in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, January 19, 2023. (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)





A woman with a flag carrying the name of the organization “National Liberation Movement”, and a poster saying “To the center of decision making, to Washington” participates in a single picket against the US policy in Ukraine, near the US embassy in Moscow, Russia, 20 January 2023. On 24 February 2022 Russian troops entered the Ukrainian territory in what the Russian president declared a “Special Military Operation”, starting an armed conflict that has provoked destruction and a humanitarian crisis. (Photo by Yuri Kochetkov/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)





Russian Communist supporters carry red flags and a portrait of the Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin as they walk to lay flowers at the Mausoleum of him to mark the 99th anniversary of his death, in Red Square, in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, January 21, 2023. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo)





Russia's southern city of Volgograd is seen decorated for the upcoming celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the Stalingrad Battle on January 24, 2023. (Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP Photo)





This aerial picture shows the German part of a memorial ground in the village of Rossoshka - the burial site for Soviet, German and Romanian soldiers and officers who died during the battle of Stalingrad, outside the Russia's southern city of Volgograd on January 24, 2023, ahead the 80th anniversary of the Stalingrad Battle. (Photo by Andrey Borodulin/AFP Photo)





Graves of Russian Wagner mercenary group fighters are seen in a cemetery near the village of Bakinskaya in Krasnodar region, Russia on January 22, 2023. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)





Nikolai Romanov, a former monk known as Father Sergiy until he was excommunicated by the Russian Orthodox Church, baptizes those present in the hall from behind a glass cage during his trial in Moscow, Russia, Friday, January 27, 2023. The monk, who denied that the coronavirus existed and challenged the Kremlin, was handed a new prison sentence Friday on charges of inciting hatred. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo)





An elderly couple walks along the mass grave with the victims of the Nazi siege of Leningrad in 1942 at the Piskarevskoe Memorial Cemetery in St. Petersburg, Russia, 27 January 2023, marking the 79th anniversary of the liberation of Leningrad (Soviet-era name of St. Petersburg) from Nazi blockade in the WWII. Up to 700,000 civilians are believed to have died from hunger, frost, shelling and air bombardment during the siege that lasted some 900 days. (Photo by Anatoly Maltsev/EPA/EFE)





People take photos in front of the bust of Soviet leader Josef Stalin, after an inauguration of busts of him and other Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov and Aleksandr Vasilevsky on the territory of the museum-panorama “Battle of Stalingrad” on eve of the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad in the southern Russian city of Volgograd, once known as Stalingrad, Russia, Wednesday, February 1, 2023. The battle of Stalingrad turned the tide of World War II and is regarded as the bloodiest battle in history, with the death toll for soldiers and civilians estimated at about 2 million. (Photo by AP Photo/Stringer)





A Russian Communist party supporter holds a portrait of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in front of the monument to Soviet Red Army marshal Georgy Zhukov, before a wreath laying ceremony at the memorial stone for World War II Hero City Stalingrad to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad in Moscow, Russia, 02 February 2023. Russia celebrates the 80th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, in the southern Russian city of Volgograd, once known as Stalingrad, that was a turning point in World War II and led to the defeat of Nazi Germany. (Photo by Maxim Shipenkov/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)





Russian President Vladimir Putin (C) attends a wreath-laying ceremony at the eternal flame in the Hall of Military Glory at the Battle of Stalingrad museum and reserve on the Mamayev Kurgan memorial complex, as part of commemorative events marking the 80th anniversary of the battle of Stalingrad in the World War Two, in Volgograd, Russia, 02 February 2023. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia has something to answer in the event of the supply of foreign tanks, including German Leopards, to the Ukrainian armed forces. “We have something to answer, and the use of armored vehicles will not end the matter”, Putin said, speaking on 02 February at an evet dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Battle of Stalingrad. (Photo by Sputnik/Kremlin Pool/Rex Features/Shutterstock)





People examine Soviet WWII-era guns during celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory at the Battle of Stalingrad during World War Two, in the southern city of Volgograd on February 2, 2023. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)





A picture shows a ceremony to rebury the remains of Soviet soldiers killed in the Battle of Stalingrad during World War Two, at a memorial ground in the village of Rossoshka outside the southern city of Volgograd on February 1, 2023. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)





Fireworks explore over a giant statue of 'Mother of the Homeland' atop of the memorial on Mamayev Hill illuminated for commemorations marking the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory in the battle of Stalingrad in the southern Russian city of Volgograd, once known as Stalingrad, Russia, Thursday, February 2, 2023. The battle of Stalingrad turned the tide of World War II and is regarded as the bloodiest battle in history, with the death toll for soldiers and civilians estimated at about 2 million. (Photo by AP Photo/Stringer)