Believers gather around a ritual bonfire during the Dugzhuuba, a Buddhist pre-New Year ritual of purification, near the Datsan Gunzechoinei Buddhist Temple in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. During the Dugzhuba ritual believers symbolically purify by eliminating all negative and harmful energies. This ritual takes place on the eve of the Buddhist New Year, called by Russian Buddhists as Sagaalgan, and follows the lunar calendar. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)