In modern Russia there are no free elections, therefore the political elite is almost constant.
Photo: Valentina Matvienko, Mayor of St. Petersburg, attends the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on June 17, 2011 in St. Petersburg, Russia. Global business leaders have gathered in Russia for the three-day conference. (Photo by Alexander Aleshkin/Epsilon/Getty Images)
Dancers perform during the opening ceremony before the Russia 2018 World Cup Group A football match between Russia and Saudi Arabia at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on June 14, 2018. (Photo by Sergei Bobylev/TASS via Getty Images)
Sukhoi Su-30SM jet fighters of the Sokoly Rossii (Falcons of Russia) aerobatic team fly in formation during the International Army Games 2016, in Dubrovichi outside Ryazan, Russia, August 5, 2016. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)
Take me away, deer, Russia. The Nenet people of Arctic Russia use reindeer and sledges as a prime mode of transport. The animals’ navigational ability means that in severe conditions they are sometimes the only hope of survival. (Photo by Kamil Nureev/Smithsonian Photo Contest)
Apollinariia Panfilova and Dmitry Rylov of Russia perform in the Pairs Short Program during day one of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Rostelecom Cup at Megasport Arena on November 20, 2020 in Moscow, Russia. (Photo by Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters)
A female brown bear with cubs fishing on Lake Kronotskoye as part of the South Kamchatka, Russia on Sanctuary, August 13, 2017. (Photo by TASS/Barcroft Images)