Russian strays

Last year, I travelled across Russia on the so-called transsiberian express. The provodnitsas, or carriage attendants, are notoriously formidable and truculent, but they were softies when it came to the stray mutts on station platforms. The provodnitsa in this photo is playing it cool, pretending not to be touched by the pleading pooch, but just after I took this photo, she stomped off into the train and returned with a big bowl of pasta for him.