Seeing Russia Through the Lenses of Foreign Photographers

Lionel Messi's birthday celebration as well as picturesque views of Russian cities and life of ordinary citizens — photographs managed to capture the most precious and elusive moments.

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Dancers wait to perform at a celebration to commemorate Lionel Messi's birthday near Argentina's training camp base at the 2018 World Cup in Bronnitsy, Russia, Sunday, June 24, 2018. With a cake sculpture and a music festival, the town of Bronnitsy celebrated the striker's 31st birthday.what Russia is like from the perspective of foreign photographers.

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Tourists pose for photos in front of the 20m (65ft) bronze tree that marks the center of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Provision of the Republic of Tatarstan during the 2018 soccer World Cup in Kazan, Russia, Thursday, June 28, 2018.

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The Cathedral of Christ the Savior is illuminated at dusk during the 2018 soccer World Cup in Moscow, Russia, Friday, June 22, 2018.

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A child runs through a city fountain in Volgograd, Russia, Thursday, June 21, 2018.

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A mural painting is seen on an apartment building in the center of Kazan during the 2018 soccer World Cup in Kazan, Russia, Tuesday, June 26, 2018.

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Commuters check and talk on their smartphones as they walk in and out of Krasnopresnenskaya subway station in Moscow, Russia, Friday, June 22, 2018.

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A seagull sitting on a statue of an angel fixed atop the Alexander Column and a Russian flag are silhouetted against the rising full moon in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, June 28, 2018.

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Two women sit outside a store downtown Moscow during the 2018 soccer World Cup in Russia, Tuesday, June 26, 2018.

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People enjoy water games opposite the Kazan Kremlin during hot and sunny weather at the 2018 soccer World Cup in Kazan, at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in Russia, Tuesday, June 26, 2018.

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A municipal worker sits on a bench, next to a statue in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, during the 2018 soccer World Cup, Thursday, June 28, 2018.

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A woman crosses a bridge during the 2018 soccer World Cup in St. Petersburg, Russia, Monday, June 25, 2018. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

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A woman carries a baby through a pedestrian bridge over a highway during the 2018 soccer World Cup in Podolsk near Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, June 19, 2018.

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A young couple sit on a bridge as the sun sets during the 2018 soccer World Cup in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, June 26, 2018.

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A Lenin statue stands on a column as the sun sets during the 2018 soccer World Cup in Podolsk near Moscow, Russia, Thursday, June 21, 2018.

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Tourists visit the Motherland Calls monument as the portrait of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin is seen on the wall in front during the 2018 soccer World Cup in Volgograd, Russia, Sunday, June 17, 2018. The monument commemorates the victims of the Battle of Stalingrad, in which the Red Army turned back Nazi Germany's army in Volgograd.