Amid the continuing coronavirus pandemic, August of 2020 was a month when many people rushed to make the best of what summer usually offers: swimming, sunbathing, looking into starlit skies and having a real rest that was certainly different from what we all had while self-isolating several months ago.
As life is gradually getting back to normal in Russia with strict coronavirus restrictions being lifted, different sports and cultural events have been taking place in the country, allowing people to meet with friends and learn something new.
Sputnik has selected the creme de la creme out of its vast collection of pictures, check them out to have a virtual trip into the Russian summer.
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The winner of the Miss MAXIM-2020 beauty and sexuality contest, Oktyabrina Maksimova (Veliky Novgorod) (C) and the finalists
© Sputnik / Aleksey Maishev
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Protesters and a security officer in Minsk, Belarus. 14 August 2020
© Sputnik / Viktor Tolochko
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People rest in the Burlinskoye lake in Russia's Altay region. A railway line is needed to remove salt which is being extracted from the lake.
© Sputnik / Alexandr Kryazhev
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Girls run across the road during the rain in Moscow.
© Sputnik / Alexey Maishev
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Anti-government protesters clash with riot police in Beirut.
© Sputnik / Valeriy Melnikov
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Children take part in the CINEMA FASHION show at the Mosfilm studio in Moscow.
© Sputnik / Ekaterina Chesnokova
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Su-35C jets of the "Russian Knights" aerobatic team perform a demonstration flight at the Army-2020 forum outside Moscow.
© Sputnik / Alexander Vilf
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Vacationers on an embankment in Koktebel, Crimea.
© Sputnik / Alexey Maishev
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Road maintenance vehicles in Tverskaya street in Moscow
© Sputnik / Vladimir Astapkovich
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Uzbekistan's T-72 tank during the 'Tank Biathlon-2020' competitions in Alabino outside Moscow.
© Sputnik / Vladimir Astapkovich
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Archpriest Bogdan Severin during a festive service in a church in Simferopol.
© Sputnik / Konstantin Mihalchevskiy
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Russian President Vladimir Putin during an online conference with members of the cabinet on 11 August 2020
© Sputnik / Aleksey Nikolskyi
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Participants of the international SUP-surfing festival, Fontanka-SUP, in Saint Petersburg.
© Sputnik / Vladimir Pesnya
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Soldiers of the Russian Baltic Fleet get off a Ka-27 PC helicopter during drills.
© Sputnik / Mikhail Golenkov
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A male Siberian lynx called Buran rests in a hammock at the Royev Ruchei park in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia.
© Sputnik / Ilya Naymushin
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Soldiers of the Republic of Congo's army during the Army-2020 international competitions in Russia's Novosibirsk.
© Sputnik / Alexandr Kryazhev
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Cleaning up for oil spilled from the Saida vessel which capsized following a fire in Murmansk
© Sputnik / Pavel Lvov
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Dog handler at the Vladivostok search and rescue department of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry, Yekaterina Vorontsova, with her mittelshnauzer Wolt during exercises.
© Sputnik / Vitaliy Ankov
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Children play in the street in Lorino village in Russia's Chukotka.
© Sputnik / Vladimir Astapkovich
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A woman takes part in a half-marathon in Moscow
© Sputnik / Ramil Sitdikov
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Ursula the white bear which was found as an abandoned cub in the Arctic in 2018 plays in a pool at the Royev Ruchei park in Krasnoyarsk.
© Sputnik / Ilya Naymushin
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Sports coach Yulia Boyarintseva (L) and businesswoman Yelena Pyatovskaya during a yoga class on SUP-boards in the Yenisei river in Krasnoyarsk region.
© Sputnik / Ilya Naymushin
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Starlit sky during the Perseid meteor shower observed in Russia's Krasnodar region.
© Sputnik / Vitaly Timkiv
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A paratrooper is taking selfie with his family on the Airborne Forces Day in the Gorky Park in Moscow.
© Sputnik / Alexey Maishev
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A stuntman at an international bike show outside Sevastopol
© Sputnik / Konstantin Mihalchevskiy
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Blooming lotuses in a lake outside Ussuriysk in Russia's Primorsky region.
© Sputnik / Vitaly Ankov
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Participants in the 10-km Night Race 2020 in Moscow
© Sputnik / Ilya Pitalev
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Whalers are hunting in the Bering Strait
© Sputnik / Vladimir Astapkovich
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Employees of the Russian Railways wait for passengers near a new tourist train "Sochi"
© Sputnik / Artur Lebedev
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Man collects melons and watermelons in Krasnodar region
© Sputnik / Vitaly Timkiv
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