End of winter celebrations in Moscow, Vladivostok

A straw effigy symbolising winter was burned at the picturesque Izmailovo Kremlin on Sunday as Muscovites marked Maslenitsa.

Celebrations also took place in Vladivostok.

The holiday, which marks the beginning of spring and the week before Lent, features traditional Russian pancakes called blini and games and dances.

"I like this holiday very much, it's so bright and cheerful and who doesn't like eating pancakes the whole week," said one of the visitors Veronika Goloschuk.