Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny (C), reacts as the court delivers the verdict in his trial, in the city of Kirov, Russia, 18 July 2013. Alexei Navalny was sentenced to five years in jail for theft on Thursday, an unexpectedly tough punishment which supporters said proved President Vladimir Putin was a dictator ruling by repression. (Photo by Valentina Svistunova/EPA)

Activists stage a theatrical play where gay people are restrained by others wearing masks depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a protest against Russia's new law on gays, in central London, Saturday, August 10, 2013. Hundreds of protesters, called for the Winter 2014 Olympic Games to be taken away from Sochi, Russia, because of a new Russian law that bans “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations” and imposes fines on those holding gay pride rallies. (Photo by Lefteris Pitarakis/AP Photo)

Orthodox believers participate in a procession in St. Petersburg, Russia, 12 September 2022. The procession marks the 298th anniversary of the transfer of the relics of St. Alexander Nevsky, who is considered to be a heavenly protector of St. Petersburg. (Photo by Anatoly Maltsev/EPA/EFE)

A woman fills her ballot paper during the State Duma, the Lower House of the Russian Parliament and local parliaments elections at a polling station in St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, September 17, 2021. (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)

Russian servicemen display military camouflage equipments during the joint military anti-terrorist command and staff exercise of the armed forces of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states Peace Mission-2021 at the Donguz training ground in the Orenburg region, Russia, 23 September 2021. More than 3.4 thousand servicemen from Russia, India, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and more than 600 units of weapons, military and special equipment are involved in the exercise Peace Mission-2021. (Photo by Maxim Shipenkov/EPA/EFE)

A man wearing a traditional Russian costume holds a goose after a traditional goose fight during celebrations of Maslenitsa, also known as Pancake Week, which is a pagan holiday marking the end of winter, in Suzdal, Russia on February 29, 2020. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

A man wearing a face mask walks past a picture of a Russian tank in central Moscow on June 18, 2020. Russia's President Putin on June 24 will preside over a massive military parade to mark Soviet victory in World War II, which was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Yuri Kadobnov/AFP Photo)

A local resident fills in documents near a mobile ballot box outside her house during a seven-day vote on constitutional reforms, in the village of Troitskoye in Moscow region, Russia on June 25, 2020. (Photo by Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters)