The occasion is Epiphany, celebrated by the Russian Orthodox Church on Wednesday, which commemorates the baptism of Jesus. The believers want to cleanse themselves of their sins by taking ice baths. Russia’s head of state Vladimir Putin refrained from swimming in sub-zero temperatures this year.
According to the Interfax agency, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov referred to the corona pandemic as justification. Church representatives in Russia had warned against infection when bathing in view of the rapidly increasing number of new infections. A year ago, Putin was briefly submerged in the icy cold water.
With temperatures down to minus ten degrees, there were more than 30 bathing spots in Europe’s largest metropolis Moscow alone. On a lake in the west of the capital, queues even formed in front of a hole in the ice in the morning when the sun was shining. Some jumped screaming into the icy water, dove under water three times, crossed themselves and prayed for themselves and their loved ones.
Security forces and paramedics were on hand because there are sometimes deaths during this winter fun. In the Goworowo district, heated tents for men and women to change into were already set up. The path to the frozen lake was covered with hay.
Nationwide, around two million people take an ice bath every year, the state agency Ria Novosti reported. This winter fun is also widespread in the neighboring countries of Belarus and Ukraine.
Epiphany is January 6th. The Russian Orthodox Church follows the outdated Julian calendar, which is now 13 days behind the more accurate Gregorian calendar used in the West. The year is 365.25 days in the Julian calendar and 365.2425 days in the Gregorian calendar.