“Exactly one year before the long awaited Sochi Olympics, Vladimir Putin went to Sochi personally to see how the construction is going. After receiving a report saying the ski jumps that were supposed to be ready in 2011, are not completed still, while their price has sky-rocketed from 1.2 billion to 8 billion roubles, he commented, “Good for you. Good job”, and then fired the vice president of the Olympic committee. Russian artist Vasily Slonov painted his view of the upcoming games, giving a new interpretation to the adored Russian mascot Cheburashka, and combining officially endorsed stereotypes of Russia with grimmer and less accepted ones”. – Ruskie.info. (Photo by Vasily Slonov)

Pro-Russian activists attack policemen guarding the burned trade union building in the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa on May 3, 2014. More than 30 people were killed in a “criminal” blaze in Ukraine's southern city of Odessa, as violence spread across the country during the bloodiest day since Kiev's Western-backed government took power. Ukraine's interior ministry said at least 31 people had died in the fire Friday, with local media reporting that pro-Russian militants were believed to have been in the burning building at the time. (Photo by Anatolii Stepanov/AFP Photo)

Russia' s President Vladimir Putin (L) congratulates prizewinners at the 2018 Youth Judo Tournament dedicated to Soviet and Russian judo coach Anatoly Rakhlin, and held at St Petersburg' s Yubileyny Palace of Sports in St Petersburg, Russia on May 23, 2018. (Photo by Mikhail Metzel/TASS)

Russian servicemen look on as a Mi-24 helicopter fly overhead during the Open Water competition for pontoon bridge units, as part of the International Army Games 2018, outside Murom, Russia August 3, 2018. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

Russian President Vladimir Putin visits the Byzantine and Christian museum in Athens, Friday, May 27, 2016. Russia's president is due in financially struggling Greece Friday for a state visit that will include a trip to a 1,000-year-old, all-male Orthodox Christian sanctuary in the north of the country. (Photo by Thanassis Stavrakis/AP Photo)

A picture taken on March 16, 2017 shows women dressed up as mermaids posing by a pool at a mermaid training school in Moscow. Russian women who have dreamt of becoming a mermaid since their youngest years, start turning their fantasies into reality with a new type of fitness – mermaid swimming. (Photo by Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP Photo)

Russian servicewomen march at Red Square during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow on May 9, 2017. Russia marks the 72nd anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two. (Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP Photo)

A marine aims an RPG-7, a portable rocket- propelled grenade launcher, during military exercises conducted by the Russian Pacific Fleet' s naval infantry unit at the Bamburovo firing range on February 2, 2017. The drills are a part of preparations for the Suvorov Attack and Sniper Line army competitions. (Photo by Yuri Smityuk/TASS)