TASS’s most memorable moments of 2019 in pictures

A Christmas tree decorated with baubles and festive lights in Manezhnaya Square, Moscow, December 12

The 50 Let Pobedy nuclear-powered icebreaker makes its way through the frozen waters of the Gulf of Ob, April 3

Athlete Ilya Ivanyuk of Russia competes in a men's high jump event at the 2nd European Games, Minsk, June 26

Russian Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov, North Korea's Deputy Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, North Korean Leader Kim Jong-Un, Russia's President Vladimir Putin, North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho are seen during a reception on behalf of Russia's President Vladimir Putin at the Far Eastern Federal University on Russky Island, April 25

Participants of Grelka Fest 2019 held at the Sheregesh ski resort, Kemerovo region, April 6

Dancers performing at the opening of new stage of the Maly Theatre in the town of Kogalym, March 22

Swans on the Krynica Reservoir, Minsk region, January 11

A woman take part in the Heroes Arena obstacle course competition in Gorky Park, Moscow, June 1

Participants of the Maslenitsa festival [Pancake Week] that celebrates the end of winter and marks the arrival of spring, Moscow, March 10

A serviceman is seen during a dress rehearsal of a march in Red Square marking the 78th anniversary of the 7 November 1941 October Revolution Parade, Moscow, November 5

Russia's President Vladimir Putin dives to the bottom of the Gulf of Finland aboard a C-Explorer 3.11 submersible to explore the Shchuka-class submarine sunken during World War II, Leningrad region, July 27

Preparing Beluga whales to be transported from the so-called 'whale jail', a marine containment facility in Srednyaya Bay, to the release site in the Sea of Japan aboard the research vessel Professor Kaganovsky, November 5

Cadets of the maritime college in St. Nicholas Cathedral in Severodvinsk, July 22

Alexei Usikov, resident of the village of Knyazhitsy, drives a handmade horse wagon, Mogilev region, Belarus, February 12

The site of a flyover collapse at the junction of Zagorodnoye Highway and Tereshkovoi Street on the outskirts of Orenburg, December 3

An Airbus A321 plane operated by Aeroflot at Runway-3, the newly opened runway complex at Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow region, September 19

Bastille, a 20-metre-high art object, going down in flames during a celebration of Maslenitsa festival, or Pancake Week, at the Nikola-Lenivets Art Park, March 9

A man taking part in the 19th Genoese Helmet international knight festival in Sudak, Crimea, July 21

Fans gathering for a concert by the American heavy metal band Metallica at the Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, July 21

Russia's President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump are seen during a meeting on the sidelines of the 2019 G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, June 28

A view of the Tokarevsky lighthouse, one of the oldest in the Russian Far East, on Cape Egersheld in Vladivostok, January 27

Houses in the flooded town of Tulun, Irkutsk region, July 1

Zenit St Petersburg players celebrating at the awarding ceremony after their 2018/19 Russian Premier League Round 28 match against CSKA Moscow, St Petersburg, May 12. Zenit St Petersburg won 3-1

A goal scored against Lokomotiv Moscow in their 2019-20 UEFA Champions League Group D football match against Juventus FC in Moscow, November 6

A man by the Iset River, Yekaterinburg, January 29

Members of student construction brigades at the Chayanda oil, gas and condensate field in Sakha republic, August 20

Hollywood movie director Quentin Tarantino visiting the Grand Kremlin Palace, Moscow, Russia, August 6

A view of the Ostankino TV Tower in Moscow, February 17

Artists of the French street theatre Trans Express performing their show at a ceremony to close the 5th Inspiration Art Festival at the VDNKh Exhibition Centre, Moscow, July 20

A view of Hovering Bridge, a viewing platform in Zaryadye Park, Moscow, December 1

Ivan Golunov, investigative journalist of the online newspaper Meduza in Nikulinsky District Court, Moscow, June 8

Children taking part in a religious procession on Nevsky Prospekt Street from the Kazan Cathedral to Alexander Nevsky Square, marking Day of the Translation of the Relics of St Alexander Nevsky from Vladimir to St Petersburg, September 12

Employees of the Peterhof State Museum Reserve carry Carle van Loo's Portrait of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna (1760) to pack and send it to an exhibition titled "Tsar Collections. Relics of Peterhof", Saint Petersburg, Russia, November 25. The exhibition is set to open at the Schaezlerpalais Palace in Germany

Siberian tiger Amur seen at the Primorye Safari Park in the village of Shkotovo, January 23

Kazakh woman having a sulfur water shower in Park of Culture by the Syr Darya River in the town of Baikonur, July 18

Ballet dancers in a scene from Ludwig Minkus' ballet La Bayadere staged by choreographer Nacho Duato, at the Mikhailovsky Theatre, St Petersburg, October 3

Fireworks light up the sky over the Peter and Paul Fortress to mark Russian Navy Day, St Petersburg, July 28

Don Quixote and Windmill (1993-1996) and Don Quixote Cast Down (1997) by Geliy Korzhev at the Russian Art & Antique Fair (RA&AF) at the Manege Central Exhibition Hall, Moscow, April 16

Russia's President Vladimir Putin in an Ivolga train on the first Moscow Central Diameter (MCD-1), Moscow, November 21. Moscow Central Diameters (MCD) is a system of city train services on existing commuter rail lines in Moscow and Moscow region

An Airbus A321 plane of the Ural Airlines that on August 15 made a hard landing shortly after take-off in a corn field near Zhukovsky International Airport due to the engines' failure, Moscow region, August 21

Participants in the Best Haymaker contest, Ivanovo region, August 3

CSKA Moscow players lifting the Gagarin Cup trophy during the medal ceremony as they win the 2019/2018 KHL season, after Leg 4 of the 2018/2019 Kontinental Hockey League Gagarin Cup Finals against Avangard Omsk, Moscow region, April 19

A raccoon at the Sirin rehabilitation center for wild animals in the village of Pionino, Minsk region, Belarus, October 1

Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev pets a Central Asian Shepherd puppy presented to him by Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, May 31

Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev takes the oath of office during an inauguration ceremony, Astana, Kazakhstan, March 20

People attend the Fish Week Festival in Manezhnaya Square, Moscow, May 26

Japanese pilot Yoshihide Muroya flies his Edge 540 V3 plane as he competes in Round 2 of the 2019 Red Bull Air Race World Championship, Kazan, June 16

School graduates celebrating the end of school in Moscow, June 21

A scuba diver dressed as Santa Claus swimming with fish at the Delfinia oceanography and marine biology centre, Novosibirsk, December 17

People watching fireworks over Brateyevsky Park during the 5th Rostec International Fireworks Festival, Moscow, August 17