Young girls perform in front of the monument to Soviet state founder Vladimir Lenin during the City Day celebrations in Yekaterinburg, Russia on August 19, 2017. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

People look at the paintings depicting Russian president Vladimir Putin dressed as Father Frost, Russian equivalent of Santa Claus, at the “SUPERPUTIN” exhibition at UMAM museum in Moscow, Russia on December 6, 2017. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

A participant stands next to a robot during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg, Russia on June 15, 2022. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

Axelle Mollaret of France competes in the Women's Individual race at the ISMF Ski Mountaineering World Championships, in Morgins, Switzerland, 07 March 2025. (Photo by Maxime Schmid/EPA)

People take a photograph at the Kremlin, against the backdrop of the Volga river, in the town of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, July 10, 2015. Russia will host the 2018 FIFA World Cup soccer tournament. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

A man and a woman both wounded by what locals say was recent shelling by Ukrainian forces, react as they sit in an ambulance in Donetsk August 23, 2014. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

A participant, riding a horse and dressed as a knight, presents flowers to women during an event marking Valentine's Day in central Moscow, Russia, February 14, 2016. (Photo by Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters)

Participants ride horses, hold spears and wear historic armoured suits of the Middle Ages as they compete during the Saint George international knight tournament in Moscow, Russia, May 3, 2015. (Photo by Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters)