Polar frame, by Dmitry Kokh, Russia. When Kokh’s boat approached the small island of Kolyuchin in the Russian High Arctic, which had been abandoned by humans since 1992, he was surprised to spot movement in one of the houses. Binoculars revealed polar bears – more than 20 in total – exploring the ghost town. Dmitry used a low-noise drone to document them. (Photo by Dmitry Kokh/Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2022)

Kazakh girls watch as the Russian Soyuz TMA-15 rocket carrying Canadian astronaut Robert Thirsk, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Frank De Winne of Belgium and Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko readies for take-off from the Baikonur cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan on May 27, 2009. Three astronauts, from Canada, Belgium and Russia, blasted off for the International Space Station in a landmark mission that will double its crew to six for the first time. (Photo by Dmitry Kostyukov/AFP Photo)

In this photo taken on Saturday, March 9, 2019, a visitor dances in front of a sculpture burning at the Maslenitsa (Shrovetide) festival at the Nikola-Lenivets art park in Nikola-Lenivets village, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) south-west of Moscow, Russia. As part of the celebrations of Maslenitsa (Shrovetide) Holiday in Russian, a folk holiday which heralds the beginning of spring, contemporary artist and park founder Nikolay Polissky built a giant sculpture made of wood and hay which was burnt to ashes during a traditional bonfire. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr./AP Photo)

Russian army soldiers, dressed in WWII era uniforms, march along the Red Square during a general rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade which will take place at Moscow's Red Square on May 9 to celebrate 70 years after the victory in WWII, in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, May 7, 2015. (Photo by Ivan Sekretarev/AP Photo)

In one of the planet’s most desolate and harsh terrains, the Altai Mountains which run from Siberia in Russia down to Mongolia’s Gobi Desert, hunting with eagles is currently only practiced by a handful of Kyrgyz and Kazakhs. This form of falconry, the practice of hunting with the aid of birds of prey, can be traced back as far as 4,000 years in Central Asia. Here: after a successful hunt, a proud hunter rewards his eagle by feeding it the lungs of the prey, which is considered the most highly prized part of the animal. (Photo by Tariq Zaidi/The Washington Post)

Visitors watch as Grigory Broverman, a member of the Cryophile winter swimmers club, pours a bucket of cold water over his 6-year-old daughter Liza during a flash mob, part of a celebration of Polar Bear Day at the Royev Ruchey Zoo in a suburb of the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, November 29, 2015. The air temperature was around minus 5 degrees Celsius. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

A general view shows the Krasnoyarsk hydro-electric power station on the Yenisei River near the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, January 13, 2016. The power plant, owned by EuroSibEnergo company, part of En+ Group, with a generating capacity of 6,000 megawatt (MW), has a ferro-concrete dam 124-metres high and 1065-metres long and is the second largest Russian hydroelectric power station. About 85% of the energy generated is intended for the Rusal Krasnoyarsk aluminium smelter, according to representatives of the power station. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

Russians play accordions as they walk near the building of the Federal Security Service (FSB, Soviet KGB successor) in Lubyanskaya Square to mark May Day in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, May 1, 2016. As in Soviet times, about one hundred thousand of cheerful workers paraded across Red Square despite a chilly rain, but instead of red flags with the Communist hammer and sickle, they waved the blue flags of the dominant Kremlin party and the Russian tricolor. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo)