Underground dancers dressed in Spiderman costumes perform in the subway of Saint Petersburg late on May 21, 2021. (Photo by Olga Maltseva/AFP Photo)

A worker cleans a statue of the founder of the Soviet Union Vladimir Lenin at Moscow Square in front of the House of Soviets in Saint-Petersburg on April 21, 2022. (Photo by Olga Maltseva/AFP Photo)

A street artist, calling on people to visit an amusement park, walks past the military-themed street exhibition “Together to Victory” in Saint Petersburg on February 3, 2025. (Photo by Olga Maltseva/AFP Photo)

In an observance of Epiphany, Russian Orthodox believers swim in an icy pond outside Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. (Photo by Olga “Zwezdochka”)

These brave models show no fear as they pose with bears, tigers and wolves in scenes straight from the pages of a fairy tale. The snaps show the models cuddling up to the deadly animals and even taking naps with the often unpredictable creatures. Here: “Marina with a bear”. Stepan, a 700-pound grizzly bear, was adopted by a Russian couple when he was just 3 months old. (Photo by Olga Barantseva/Caters News Agency)

Olga Fatkulina of the Russian Olympic Committee flops onto the infield after finishing her heat in the women's speedskating 1,000-meter finals at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Thursday, February 17, 2022, in Beijing. (Photo by Ashley Landis/AP Photo)

Kites fly in the sky during the Kite Show at the historical complex “Fort Konstantin” in city of Kronstadt outside Saint Petersburg, on June 7, 2025. (Photo by Olga Maltseva/AFP Photo)

A dachshunds is dressed in an outfit as it is shown off during the eighth annual Dachshunds Parade in Saint Petersburg, Russia on May 25, 2019. (Photo by Olga Maltseva/AFP Photo)