In modern Russia there are no free elections, therefore the political elite is almost constant.

Photo: Valentina Matvienko, Mayor of St. Petersburg, attends the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on June 17, 2011 in St. Petersburg, Russia. Global business leaders have gathered in Russia for the three-day conference. (Photo by Alexander Aleshkin/Epsilon/Getty Images)

Legend by Damien Hirst in the gardens of Chatsworth House on September 9, 2011 in Chatsworth, England. The never before seen work by Hirst is part of the Beyond Limits exhibition of modern and contemporary sculpture displayed in the gardens of Chatsworth by Sotherby's between 9th September to 30th October 2011. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

These beautiful shots may look like works of modern art – but they are actually close-ups of chemical reactions. The works were snapped with the help of a group of scientists from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in Anhui, China. Here: Zinc reacting with lead nitrate in a soft gel to form lead crystals. (Photo by Yan Liang/Caters News)

Elizabeth Nicolaou, a final year student with the Royal Academy of Dance, strikes a pose on April 28, 2022 near the Cutty Sark ship in Greenwich, London ahead of International Dance Day. First celebrated in 1982, International Dance Day has taken place every year since in anniversary celebration of the birth of Jean-Georges Noverre (1727-1810), considered the creator of modern ballet. (Photo by Guy Corbishley/Alamy Live News)

Dancers perform at the Harajuku Omotesando Super Yosakoi Dance festival in Shibuya, Tokyo on August 27, 2022. Super Yosakoi festival, is a two day festival that sees thousands of dancers, in hundreds of teams, energetically perform this unique Japanese dance style that combines traditional and more modern elements of movement and costume. (Photo by Damon Coulter/SOPA Images/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Hot air balloons take to the skies over Bristol city centre on August 6, 2012 in Bristol, England. The early morning flight of over twenty balloons over the city was organised as a curtain raiser for the four-day Bristol International Balloon Fiesta which starts on Thursday. Now in its 34th year, the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta is Europe's largest annual hot air balloon event in the city that is seen by many balloonists as the home of modern ballooning. (Photo by Matt Cardy)

A German Air Force Officer sits astride a dead boar outside a house where he is stationed near the Western Front, in this 1918 handout picture. This picture is part of a previously unpublished set of World War One (WWI) images from a private collection. The pictures offer an unusual view of varied and contrasting aspects of the conflict, from high tech artillery to mobile pigeon lofts, and from officers partying in their headquarters to the grim reality of life and death in the trenches. The year 2014 marks the centenary of the start of the war. (Photo by Reuters/Archive of Modern Conflict London)

Fans of the East German Trabant car gather for their 7th annual get-together on August 23, 2014 in Zwickau, Germany. Hundreds of Trabant enthusiasts arrived to spend the weekend admiring each others cars, trading stories and enjoying activities. The Trabant, dinky and small by modern standards, was the iconic car produced in former communist East Germany and today has a strong cult following. (Photo by Matthias Rietschel/Getty Images)