“Russia's emergencies minister accused local officials on Monday of not doing enough to prevent 171 deaths in weekend floods that raised new doubts about the country's readiness for natural disasters under President Vladimir Putin”. – Andrey Kuzmin via Reuters

“A meteor streaked across the sky above Russia's Ural Mountains on Friday morning, causing sharp explosions and injuring more than 500 people (20 had been hospitalized in serious condition), many of them hurt by broken glass. “There was panic. People had no idea what was happening. Everyone was going around to people's houses to check if they were OK”, said Sergey Hametov, a resident of Chelyabinsk, about 1500 kilometres (930 miles) east of Moscow, the biggest city in the affected region”. (Photo by Alexey Bulaew/RIA Nowosti)

Final-year student Alina Repkina prepares for a livestream of the Last Bell ceremony for school leavers at secondary school No 11 in Rostov-On-Don, Russia on May 30, 2020. It is the first time in Russia that such ceremonies have been held via video link due to the coronavirus lockdown restrictions. (Photo by Valery Matytsin/TASS)

A girl swings on a rope swing over the Volga River in Zavolzhsk, Ivanovo Region, Russia on June 9, 2020. (Photo by Vladimir Smirnov/TASS)

Street animators wearing fancy costumes take a break on a bench in a park in Stavropol, Russia on March 14, 2021. (Photo by Eduard Korniyenko/Reuters)

People attend the Immortal Regiment march on Victory Day, which marks the 77th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in the village of Bobrovka in the Omsk Region, Russia on May 9, 2022. (Photo by Alexey Malgavko/Reuters)

An employee holds a food order on a tray in the Russian version of a former McDonald's restaurant after the opening ceremony in Moscow on June 12, 2022. Former McDonald's restaurants in Russia have been renamed “Vkusno i tochka” (“Delicious. Full Stop”), the new owner said ahead of their grand re-opening . (Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP Photo)