A dachshund dressed as a leo walks a podium during a dachshund parade festival in St. Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, September 16, 2023. (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)

A woman walks between Christmas trees at a Christmas market opened prior to incoming Christmas and New Year festivities in St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, December 15, 2023. (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)

A man does physical exercise during sunset over the Finnish Gulf coast in St. Petersburg, Russia, Wednesday, April 14, 2021. (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)

People visit an art installation “Alley of Flying Umbrellas” in central St. Petersburg, Russia, May 15, 2015. Art installation inspired by “Umbrella Sky Project” of Portuguese town of Agueda and was made of 500 colored umbrellas. (Photo by Anatoly Maltsev/EPA)

Russian Police academy female cadets march during a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade at Dvortsovaya (Palace) Square in St Petersburg, Russia, Wednesday, May 7, 2014. Victory Day, marking the defeat of Nazi Germany, is Russia's most important secular holiday celebrated on May 9. (Photo by Dmitry Lovetsky/AP Photo)

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)

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)

Servicemen demonstrate their skills during a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade which will take place at Dvortsovaya (Palace) Square on May 9 to celebrate 78 years after the victory in World War II in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, May 4, 2023. (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)