In pictures: Russian life

1 of 10 The Russian newspaper Kommersant has marked its 15th anniversary with a photo exhibition in Moscow. Here Russian soldiers salute an officer. (Viktor Vasenin, Kommersant.)

2 of 10 A winning shot - Boris Yeltsin and Jacques Chirac watch Davis Cup tennis final, 2002 (Dmitry Azarov/Kommersant).

3 of 10 Softly softly - Moscow mayor Yuriy Luzhkov prepares for TV broadcast, 1997 (Yury Shtukin/Kommersant).

4 of 10 'Clean intentions - strong power' reads an election billboard in war-torn Grozny, 2003 (Ilya Pitalev/Kommersant).

5 of 10 Russian icon - celebrated film director Nikita Mikhalkov champions Orthodox Christian values, 1999 (Vasiliy Shaposhnikov/Kommersant).

6 of 10 The sound and fury - Mstislav Rostropovich conducts the US National Orchestra, 1994 (Eddie Opp/Kommersant).

7 of 10 First ladies - Lyudmila Putin and Cherie Blair at a children's book exhibition in Moscow, 2003 (Aleksey Kudenko/Kommersant).

8 of 10 A water mains bursts after torrential rain, 2001 (Konstantin Krupenin/Kommersant).

9 of 10 Behind bars - a convict serving life is searched at a top-security prison, 2000 (Dmitry Lebedev/Kommersant).

10 of 10 The oligarch and the muses - aluminium tycoon Oleg Deripaska at an arts exhibition, 2004 (Aleksandr Sidorov/Kommersant).