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A Russian soldiers climbs on a military truck as a hot air balloon is inflated before taking off from Catherine's Palace to compete in the first free flights into Soviet airspace during the inaugural USSR International Hot Air Balloon festival in Leningrad, USSR, in May, 1990. The festival was held across the city's historic locations of Catherine's Palace, Palace Square, and the Cruiser Aurora, in Leningrad, know known as Saint Petersburg. (Photo by Bryn Colton/Getty Images)

A Russian soldiers climbs on a military truck as a hot air balloon is inflated before taking off from Catherine's Palace to compete in the first free flights into Soviet airspace during the inaugural USSR International Hot Air Balloon festival in Leningrad, USSR, in May, 1990. The festival was held across the city's historic locations of Catherine's Palace, Palace Square, and the Cruiser Aurora, in Leningrad, know known as Saint Petersburg.  (Photo by Bryn Colton/Getty Images)