President Putin visits new GRU headquaters.

Putin, along with Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, practiced firing from the 9-mm Makarov pistol widely used in the Russian army. The president also tried the Stechkin high-accuracy semiautomatic pistol.

Gold

Precision weighing of 16-kg ingot gold at the Aldanzoloto gold mining company. Nizhny Kuranakh.

Yakutia

The pole of cold, a unique phenomenon, is located in Tomtor, the Oimyakon district, Yakutia. There is no other place in the world where people permanently live and work at such low temperatures. The average temperature in January is 61 degrees centigrade below zero, and 68 below was once registered there.