Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a ceremony to launch a new pharmaceutical substance large-scale production department at the Bratskkhimsintez plant of Russian drugmaker Pharmasyntez, via video link at Novo-Ogaryovo state residence, outside Moscow on November 26, 2020. (Photo by Alexey Nikolsky/Sputnik/AFP Photo)





A Russian police officer checks public adherence of the 'mask regime' forcing people to wear masks in public places, in an electric train car in Moscow, Russia, Friday, November 27, 2020. Russia has registered a sharp spike in coronavirus cases Friday, with officials reporting 27,543 new confirmed infections, which is over 2,000 contagions more than the day before and the highest in the pandemic. (Photo by Denis Voronin, Moscow News Agency photo via AP Photo)





Children perform during the opening the private ballet school of the the Honored Artist of Russia and former soloist of the State Academic Bolshoi Theater Maria Volodina (unseen) “Grand Ballet” in Moscow, Russia, 20 November 2020. (Photo by Sergei Ilnitsky/EPA/EFE)





A person walks with a dog during snowfall in Stavropol, Russia on November 26, 2020. (Photo by Eduard Korniyenko/Reuters)





A man wearing a face mask to protect against coronavirus walks along a street in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, December 2, 2020. Russia has registered a record number of coronavirus deaths for a second straight day. (Photo by Pavel Golovkin/AP Photo)





Municipal workers on cranes set up a Christmas tree in Red Square, with the Historical Museum, left, and the GUM State Department store, right, in the background, in Moscow, Russia, Monday, November 23, 2020. Daily new coronavirus infections in Russia hit a new high on Monday, with authorities reporting a record 25,173 new cases. The latest figure brings the country's total to over 2.1 million. (Photo by Pavel Golovkin/AP Photo)





Fallen tree branches on a vehicle after an ice storm, in Vladivostok, Russia, Friday, November 20, 2020. Thousands of people in Russia's Far East region of Primorye remained without heating or electricity on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2020 as local authorities and emergency services wrestled with the consequences of an unprecedented ice storm that hit the region last week. (Photo by Aleksander Khitrov/AP Photo)





A spruce tree branches covered in ice are seen after an ice storm in a street in Vladivostok, Russia, Friday, November 20, 2020. (Photo by Aleksander Khitrov/AP Photo)





Trolleybus' power lines covered in ice on a street after an ice storm in Vladivostok, Russia, Friday, November 20, 2020. (Photo by Aleksander Khitrov/AP Photo)





A woman with an umbrella walks past fallen tree branches, after an ice storm in Vladivostok, Russia, Friday, November 20, 2020. (Photo by Aleksander Khitrov/AP Photo)





Icicles form on a tree after an ice storm in a street in Vladivostok, Russia, Saturday, November 20, 2020. (Photo by Aleksander Khitrov/AP Photo)





A railing covered in ice after an ice storm, on a street in Vladivostok, Russia, Friday, November 20, 2020. (Photo by Aleksander Khitrov/AP Photo)





An industrial climber removes ice from the cables of the Russky Bridge across the Eastern Bosphorus Strait in Vladivostok, Russia on November 25, 2020. The bridge is temporarily closed after a snowstorm, with a ferry service launched between Russky Island and mainland Vladivostok. (Photo by Viktor Gokhovich/TASS)





A tram rides along a street on a frosty day in Omsk, Russia on November 23, 2020. (Photo by Alexey Malgavko/Reuters)





People wearing fancy costumes walk near a skating rink past signs requesting to use protective face masks and to keep a social distance amid the coronavirus disease (COVID 19) outbreak, as heavy fog covers a square named after Soviet state founder Vladimir Lenin in Stavropol, Russia on December 1, 2020. (Photo by Eduard Korniyenko/Reuters)





Artists of the Moscow residence of Father Frost perform for children with disabilities in Moscow, Russia on November 28, 2020. (Photo by Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)





A woman wearing a face mask to help curb the spread of the coronavirus walks into the underpass under the street during sunset in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, December 2, 2020. Russia has registered a record number of coronavirus deaths for a second straight day. Currently, there is a country-wide mask mandate and mostly mild restrictions that vary from region to region. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo)





A woman walks in the snow-covered forest after a snowfall outside Moscow on November 21, 2020. (Photo by Yuri Kadobnov/AFP Photo)





A picture taken on November 26, 2020 shows a ruby star atop one of the Kremlin's towers during a snowfall in Moscow. (Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP Photo)