KIRILL ZARUBIN

Frogs sit near a road fenced off by volunteers who help them move across safely in the Sestroretsk Bog natural reserve near St. Petersburg, Russia, on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
A Russian bucket brigade helps toads and frogs cross the road to get to a spawning site
It happens every spring along a section of road north of Russia’s second-largest city of St. Petersburg: Volunteers, some in yellow vests, patrol near the Sestroretsk Bog natural reserve, and become crossing guards for thousands of toads and frogs.
 
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands listening to the verdict in a glass cage of a courtroom inside the building of "Palace of justice," in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on Friday, July 19, 2024. A Russian court convicted Gershkovich on espionage charges that his employer and the U.S. have rejected as fabricated. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison after a secretive and rapid trial in the country's highly politicized legal system. (AP Photo)
Russia convicts US journalist of spying in a trial widely seen as politically motivated
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been convicted of espionage charges that his employer and the U.S. vehemently reject.
 
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands in a glass cage in a courtroom in Yekaterinburg, Russia, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. Fifteen months after he was arrested in the city of Yekaterinburg on espionage charges, Gershkovich returns there for his trial starting Wednesday, June 26, 2024, behind closed doors. Gershkovich, his employer and the U.S. government deny the charges. (AP Photo)
Closing arguments in espionage trial of Wall Street Journal reporter will be Friday, court says
 
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands in a glass cage in a courtroom in Yekaterinburg, Russia, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. Fifteen months after he was arrested in the city of Yekaterinburg on espionage charges, Gershkovich returns there for his trial starting Wednesday behind closed doors. Gershkovich, his employer and the U.S. government deny the charges. (AP Photo)
A US journalist goes on trial in Russia on espionage charges that he and his employer deny
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has gone on trial in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg on espionage charges that he, his employer and the U.S. government vehemently deny.