It's often said that pets and their owners can start to look alike, but these adorable photographs take the old mantra to a new extreme. They are the work of Svetlana Valyiskaya (27), from St Petersburg, who snaps pets in everyday poses in her spare time from her job as a commercial photographer. The vibrant costumes and scenes, which Svetlana designs herself, have made the photos a hit in her native Russia – and it's not hard to see why. She said: “I really love animals, they are loyal, faithful and true and always interesting to work with – plus they never criticise the photographs afterwards”. (Photo by Svetlana Valyiskaya/Mercury)

Recruits carry ammunition during a military training at a firing range in the Rostov-on-Don region in southern Russia, on October 4, 2022. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the military has recruited over 200,000 reservists as part of a partial mobilization launched two weeks ago. (Photo by AP Photo/Stringer)

A Rohingya refugee bathes at a temporary shelter after arriving by boat in Laweueng, Aceh province on December 27, 2022. Rohingya refugees received emergency medical treatment after a boat carrying nearly 200 people came ashore in Indonesia on December 27, authorities said, in the fourth such landing in the country in recent months. (Photo by Chaideer Mahyuddin/AFP Photo)

A Firefighter walks in a evacuated home in flames at El Cariso Village as the Airport Fire burns on September 10, 2024 in Lake Elsinore, California. The fast-moving Airport Fire that started on September 9 in Orange County grew up to more than 10,000 acres by this afternoon, fire officials said. (Photo by Apu Gomes/Getty Images)

A demonstrator wears a message on a t-shirt in Tahrir Square on May 27, 2011 in Cairo, Egypt. The ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces said that there would be no use of violence against protests dubbed “the Second Revolution of Anger” taking place in Cairo and other cities in Egypt. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

A girl looks from her flooded house on the outskirt of Kota Bharu in Kelantan December 29, 2014. The worst flooding in Malaysia in more than a decade has killed 10 people and forced nearly 160,000 from their homes and more rain is expected, authorities said on Sunday. (Photo by Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters)

In this January 27, 2015 photo, penguins walk on the shore of Bahia Almirantazgo in Antarctica. Antarctica “is big and it's changing and it affects the rest of the planet and we can't afford to ignore what's going on down there”, said David Vaughan, science director of the British Antarctic Survey. (Photo by Natacha Pisarenko/AP Photo)

Handout grab taken from YouTube of Commander Chris Hadfield who has said goodbye to life on the International Space Station by making a cover version of David Bowie's Space Oddity. Issue date: Monday May 13, 2013. (Photo by Commander Chris Hadfield/YouTube/PA Wire)