1.   Bafflingly, he changed his mind as the result of an old-fashioned Soviet-style banquet, full of compulsory vodka toasts.

2.   A voyage on an elegant steamship, complete with vodka toasts and patriotic songs, gives way to the grim reality of life and death in a police state.

3.   He raised a vodka toast to a quick end to the fighting.

4.   Ukrainian defense Minister Olexander Kuzmuk clearly got the point, raising a glass to the partnership for a lunchtime vodka toast.

5.   The businessman said his encounter with Russian counterintelligence ended with a vodka toast to the upcoming May Day celebrations and a handshake.