The calendar was unveiled in apparent deliberate timing as the West marks Christmas Day. This kicks off a long Russian holiday season which includes Orthodox Russian Christmas Day on 7 January. (Image: Ministry of Defence/east2west ne)The March 2009 calendar shows the increasing number of women cadets joining Putin’s military ranks. Here the message from defence minister Sergei Shoigu, a close ally and holiday buddy of Vladimir Putin, is: "Russian 'bears' don't hibernate in winter.”April shows “Russian snowdrops” - aka Russian special forces equipped with chemical attack masks. In December 2019 we are shown some Russian Christmas “toys, candles and pop up guns”.

Source: Daily Mirror December 25, 2018 19:07 UTC