Decorated Russia Lights Up As Holidays Approach

People walk near huge light sculptures in the shape of polar bears in Moscow on December 14.

Ornaments hang from the trees as the sun rises over Moscow's Red Square on December 12. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said there will be no massive New Year's celebrations in the city this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Woman stand beside an ornamented tree in front of Moscow's GUM department store, which is illuminated for the New Year's and Christmas season. Russians routinely refer to decorated seasonal conifers as "New Year firs" or "New Year spruces," a legacy from the Soviet era when religious symbols were frowned upon.

A woman wearing a face mask walks through star-shaped decorations in Moscow.

A light installation outside the Kievsky railway station in Moscow

A display is in place to welcome 2021 at the Vorobyovy Hills observation point in Moscow.

Moscow police officers wear face masks as they patrol past Christmas decorations.

Clear domes allow guests to dine privately on the rooftop of the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Moscow with a view of the Kremlin and Red Square.
 

A Christmas light installation on the Universitetskaya Embankment in St. Petersburg

An unusual seasonal tree made of gas masks in the city of Ryazan. 

Medical workers in full protective gear set up a New Year spruce on December 10 at a hospital in Ivanovo that admits COVID-19 patients. 

A man drives an illuminated mini-train in the seaside resort of Sochi on December 15.

An oversized Christmas bauble lights up a street in Sochi.

A woman poses for photographs despite temperatures of minus 43 degrees Celsius in the city of Yakutsk in Russia's Far East.