Photos of the Week: Sept. 5-11, 2009

Irina Gordeyeva, of Russia, on her way to winning the Women's High Jump at the IAAF Grand Prix in Rieti, central Italy, Sunday, Sept. 6, 2009.

President Dmitry Medvedev, center, flanked by Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, left, and Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov, attending an opening ceremony of the City Day celebrations in downtown Moscow, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009.

Actors from the "Tall Brothers" street theater performing in a park during the annual City Day celebration in Moscow, Sunday, Sept. 6, 2009.

A man taking a break with his sandwich board offering a crisis sale on secondhand goods near Belorussky Station on Monday, Sept. 7, 2009. The Economic Development Ministry said GDP will grow in the second half of 2009.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev reacting during a meeting with chief of Russian state-run natural gas giant Gazprom Alexei Miller, right, at Moscow's Kremlin on Monday, Sept. 7, 2009.

Svetlana Kuznetsova, of Russia, returning to Caroline Wozniacki, of Denmark, during their match at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York, Monday, Sept. 7, 2009. Kuznetsova lost the match 1-6, 7-6 (2), 6-3. It was a difficult week for the Russian women in the U.S. Open, as a series of upsets also eliminated Maria Sharapova, Nadia Petrova and Yelena Dementyeva.

People walking through Voskresenskiye Vorota, or Resurrection Gates, on Monday, Sept. 7, 2009. But visitors were banned from entering Red Square until Saturday because of a weeklong military music festival that is being held there.

President Dmitry Medvedev speaking with 2008 Beijing Olympics tennis gold medalist Yelena Dementyeva on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2009, in the Kremlin after awarding her the Order of Honor, which is given to citizens for high achievements.

Communists rallying Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2009, on Kutuzovsky Prospekt to mark the Battle of Borodino against Napoleonic forces on Sept. 7, 1812. Communist City Duma candidates vowed to defend Moscow from bureaucracy and air pollution.

A couple tying the knot at a wedding palace on Butyrskaya Ulitsa on Wednesday, whose date of 09-09-09 is considered good luck. A total of 1,038 got married, compared with 300 to 500 on a normal weekday.

A plainclothed police officer, left, pulling off a Belarusian opposition flag from an activist protesting against joint military maneuvers with Russia in the capital Minsk, Belarus, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009. About 6,000 Russian troops and a similar number of Belarussian soldiers are to take part in the exercises later this month. Several dozen demonstrators have rallied to oppose the exercise, which they saw as part of Russian plans to subdue and annex Belarus. Police agents moved quickly to disperse Wednesday's rally, tearing placards saying, "Russian army go home!" and beating several demonstrators before busing them away. About 20 protesters have been detained.

Canadian billionaire Quebec-born philanthropist Guy Laliberte wearing a clown's red nose, gesturing on Red Square on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2009. Laliberte, Russian cosmonaut Maxim Surayev and U.S. astronaut Jeffrey Williams are part of the next crew scheduled to blast off to the International Space Station on Sept. 30.

President Dmitry Medvedev, right, listening to Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez at the Barvikha presidential residence outside Moscow on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2009. Chavez on Thursday said his country has recognized the independence of Georgian breakaway regions South Ossetia and Abkhazia, a boost to Russia, which had been almost alone in recognizing them.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, right, embracing Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez after talks in the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2009. Chavez cemented a closer alliance with Russia on Thursday, recognizing two pro-Russian rebel regions of Georgia as independent and securing arms supplies and loans in return.

Wales' Craig Bellamy, right, and Russia's Vasily Berezutsky battling for the ball during their World Cup Group 4 qualifying soccer match at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009. Russia won the match 3-1.

The U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Beyrle, second left, speaking at the Church of St. Catherine in remembrance of Sept. 11, 2001 victims in Moscow on Friday, Sept. 11, 2009. Friday marks the eighth anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001, and the ambassador participated in events to commemorate all victims of the U.S. terror attacks.

President Dmitry Medvedev speaking with a girl at a cultural complex in Orenburg, some 1500 kilometers (932 miles) southeast of Moscow, Friday, Sept. 11, 2009. Medvedev toured the complex with his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev.