A pro-democracy demonstrator fights with a Soviet soldier on top of a tank parked in front of the Russian Federation building on August 19, 1991, after a coup toppled Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. The same day, thousands in Moscow, Leningrad, and other cities answered Russian Republic President Boris Yeltsin's call to raise barricades against tanks and troops. (Dima Tanin/AFP/Getty Images)

Employees prepare spacesuits at the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on August 19, 2015. Members of the main crew of the 45/46 expedition to the International Space Station ISS, Kazakhstan's cosmonaut Aydyn Aimbetov, Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov and Denmark's astronaut Andreas Mogensen from the European Space Agency, are scheduled to blast off to the International Space Station (ISS) on September 2, 2015. (Photo by AFP Photo)

A mobile phone cover with a picture of Russian President Vladimir Putin and which reads “Mr President” is seen in this photo illustration taken a in hotel room in Kazan, Russia, July 30, 2015. He may be in charge of an economy in crisis, but if mobile phone covers and souvenir mugs are a barometer of popularity, Russian President Vladimir Putin need not fear for his political future. In fact, Moscow's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine last year has given the memorabilia makers even more material to glorify, sometimes wryly, a president whose image as a champion of Russian national interests in a hostile world is barely challenged in his own country. (Photo by Stefan Wermuth/Reuters)

Nothing special – just Russians celebrate the New Year. Yep, not everything in Russia is Tchaikovsky and Dostoevsky.

A model stands in a light backstage after presenting the collection by Russian designer Alena Akhmadullina at The Russian State Library, one of the three national libraries of Russia, the largest library in the country, largest in Europe, in Moscow, Russia, on Wednesday, November 29, 2023. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo)

A man salts a downtown sidewalk in Washington, Thursday, March 5, 2015, as snow begins to fall. The U.S. federal government said its offices in the Washington area will be closed Thursday because of a new round of winter weather expected in the region. The Office of Personnel Management said non-emergency personnel in and around Washington were granted excused absences for the day. Emergency employees and telework-ready employees were expected to work. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

A woman takes cover as shots are fired by police officers as they face off with stone-throwing protesters, during an anti-government demonstration in Bujumbura, Burundi, 20 May 2015. Police officers fired shots and teargas canisters in running battles with protesters who demonstrated against Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza's bid for a third term. Presidential spokesman man said on 20 May that the country will postpone its parliamentary and local council elections, previously scheduled for 26 May, to 05 June 2015. According to the United Nations' refugee agency, more than 105,000 Burndians have fled the country to seek refuge in neighbouring countries such as Rwanda, DR Congo, and Tanzania. (Photo by Dai Kurokawa/EPA)