Soviet Union in the mid-late 1980s Leningrad street scenes, December 1985 Leningrad. A Pepsi stand takes root beside a stand selling Communist badges and magazines, December 1985 Leningrad. Administrative buildings, Smolny, December 1985 Leningrad. Admiralty Arch, December 1985 Leningrad. Canal, December 1985 Leningrad. Catherine Square with Admiralty Arch and the Winter Palace in the background, December 1985 Leningrad. Catherine Square, December 1985 Leningrad. Catherine Square, December 1985 Leningrad. City centre across the Neva, December 1985 Leningrad. Feeding pigeons outside of the Kazaan Cathedral, December 1985 Leningrad. First light over the Neva, at about 10.30 in the morning. The dome of St Isaac's cathedral pierces the misty light, and the ice begins to shrink after the overnight thaw, December 1985 Leningrad. Happy New Year and Grandfather Frost outside the New Year Bazaar in the Merchant's Hall, Nevsky Prospect, December 1985 Leningrad. Landing quay on the Neva, December 1985 Leningrad. Leningrad Soviet, with the Bronze Horseman in the foreground, December 1985 Leningrad. Novogodni Bazar - New Year Bazaar and Grandfather Frost on Nevsky Prospect, December 1985 Leningrad. Peter-Paul Fortress beyond the bridge, December 1985 Leningrad. Smolny Institute, a former convent where Lenin assumed the leadership of the State, besieged by thawing snow, December 1985 Leningrad. The Admiralty and the Cathedral of the Ascension from the Field of Mars, December 1985 Leningrad. The Admiralty from Catherine Square, December 1985 Leningrad. The Field of Mars, December 1985 Leningrad. The Hermitage, December 1985 Leningrad. The Pushkin Palace, December 1985 Moscow. 27th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, December 1985 Moscow. Arbat Square, December 1985 Moscow. Arbat Square, December 1985 Moscow. Hotel Moskva, December 1985