PUNO ZA PREVODITI: When Ramadan starts on Thursday, the faithful in St Petersburg and elsewhere in northern Russia will face an obstacle that the prophet surely didn’t envision: in June, the sun never truly sets. Ramadan: a guide to the Islamic holy month Read more These are the celebrated “white nights”, the period lasting from roughly late May to early July when a few hours of twilight is the closest it gets to true night. Although they are observed across the far north, white nights have the strongest association with St Petersburg, the northernmost city with a population of more than 1 million and Russia’s unofficial cultural capital. For the city’s Muslim population, it’s an exacting time. The Qur’an makes exceptions to the Ramadan fast for people suffering from illness, travellers and women who are menstruating or pregnant. But it does not give explicit instructions on observing the fast in the far north. According to some St Petersburg Muslim authorities, the long-lasting