Shootings, Elections and Drills: Russia's September in Photos
From a controversial parliamentary election to a tragic school shooting and abnormally cold weather, there was no shortage of major news events in Russia this September.
Here's a look back at the month in photos:
Here's a look back at the month in photos:

A street vendor sells apples in the Siberian city of Omsk. Seen in the distance is a campaign billboard promoting the ruling, pro-Kremlin United Russia party in the run-up to the 2021 Russian State Duma elections.
Yevgeny Sofiychuk / TASS

A Russian emergencies worker in protective gear disinfects Kievsky railway station in Moscow.
Alexander Nemenov / AFP

Troops from Russia's Western Military District take part in Zapad-2021 military drills in the Nizhny Novgorod region. The drills, carried out with Belarus, were designed to demonstrate Russia's capability and willingness to defend its interests in its neighbor to the west.
Yevgeny Polovodov / mil.ru

Russian Baltic Fleet troops carry out coastal defense exercises during Zapad-2021 at the Khmelevka training range, Kaliningrad region.
mil.ru

Voters at a polling station in Moscow during the State Duma elections on Sept. 19.
Sofia Sandurskaya / Moskva News Agency

The State Duma elections were marred by widespread reports of ballot stuffing and electoral fraud.
Kirill Zykov / Moskva News Agency

Russia's Communist Party staged a rally against the election results on Moscow's Pushkinskaya Square.
Yuri Kadobnov / AFP

Several Communist Party candidates who held strong leads in paper voting saw those leads vanish in favor of United Russia candidates once e-voting results came in, sparking uproar among Russia's opposition.
Alexander Nemenov / AFP

A view of Novodevichy Convent in Moscow as the leaves begin to turn.
Sergei Kiselev / Moskva News Agency

Students lay flowers at a makeshift memorial outside the university campus in Perm on Sept. 21, where a gunman killed six people there before being detained the day before.
Natalia Kolesnikova/ AFP

The shooting at Perm State University stunned the city located in Russia's Urals region.
Natalia Kolesnikova/ AFP

The past month was Moscow's coldest September so far this century, with precipitation also above the norm.
Sergei Kiselev / Moskva News Agency