A Belarus Interior Ministry special forces soldier demonstrates

A Belarus Interior Ministry special forces soldier demonstrates his ability to sustain a blow during a competition to mark the Defenders of the Fatherland Day at their training centre outside Minsk. Belarus celebrates the Soviet holiday on February 23 each year alongside Russia and other countries of the former USSR. Following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the holiday was given its current name in 2002 by Russian President Vladimir Putin.Picture: VIKTOR DRACHEV/AFP/Getty Images