A security personnel plays with a girl in the compound of a health and rest centre which serves as a temporary accommodation for refugees from eastern regions of the country in the town of Korostyshiv, Zhytomyr region, Ukraine, July 30, 2015. More than 400 people who left eastern Ukraine due to a military conflict have arrived at the sanatorium in Korostyshiv since the summer of 2014, according to representatives. (Photo by Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)

Janja Garnbret of Slovenia competes during the women's boulder qualification of the IFSC World Cup Innsbruck 2024 on June 26, 2024 in Innsbruck, Austria. (Photo by Marco Kost/Getty Images)

The Angel of The North at Gateshead in Tyne and Wear, UK with a halo drawn in sky using a light on a drone, captured during a 25-second exposure on January 20, 2025. (Photo by Ian Sproat/Picture Exclusive)

Emily Ratajkowski, left, a cast member in “We Are Your Friends”, walks the red carpet at the premiere of the film at the TCL Chinese Theatre on Thursday, August 20, 2015, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP Photo)

Yoga instructor Sarah Henry leads a class during a paddleboard yoga session at Adventure Sports Miami on July 10, 2011 in Miami, Florida. The paddle board is said to give the body's core more of a workout then in a gym since the platform is unstable and one must use the muscles to remain balanced on the board. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Death Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (7 June 1942 – 20 October 2011) in Misrata on October 20, 2011. The veteran strongman was killed on as new regime forces crushed the last pocket of resistance in his hometown Sirte, the National Transitional Council said. (Photo credit should read MAHMUD TURKIA)

Female North Korean traffic police officers gather in front of bronze statues of the late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il to pay their respects in Pyongyang, North Korea on Saturday, February 16, 2013. North Koreans turned out to commemorate what would have been the 71th birthday of Kim Jong Il who died on December 17, 2011. (Photo by David Guttenfelder/AP Photo)

To produce the images that convey his fatalistic and ironic approach to life, tinged with hope, he needed the environment and knowledge of Mother Russia, oiled with a bit of bribery to certain circus trainers. Enter the Great Russian Bear, the personification of Russia for the last several centuries, onto center stage and into his studio. The bear is recognized as both brutish and cute – Misha was the mascot for the 1980 Olympic Games – and has remained a symbol of Russia since Tsarist times. In 2009 it is the symbol of the United Russia Party.