Orthodox Christians have been taking the traditional plunge into freezing waters as they celebrate Epiphany today - despite winter temperatures reaching -40C in some regions of Russia.
Police estimated that over 2.4 million people in the country took part in celebrations overnight, but it is not known how many of these made the customary three dips in water.
Authorities cut ice and sometimes install wooden steps to ease access for worshippers wanting to descend into icy rivers and lakes and immerse themselves, to remember the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan.
In a park in eastern Moscow, worshippers clad in bikinis or swimming trunks splashed and crossed themselves, shivering under the watchful eye of police and emergencies ministry workers.
Russian Orthodox Christians have been taking the traditional plunge into freezing waters as they celebrate Epiphany today. Pictured: a man taking a dip in Moscow's Vorontsovsky Park
Police estimated that over 2.4 million people in the country took part in celebrations overnight, but it is not known how many of these made the customary three dips in water. Pictured: an Orthodox Christian takes a dip in a lake near the village of Vorontsovka
Pictured: a group of men swim to retrieve a cross from the water in Visegrad, Bosnia and Herzegovina, earlier today
Authorities cut ice and sometimes install wooden steps to ease access for worshippers wanting to descend into icy rivers and lakes and immerse themselves, to remember the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan. Pictured: a child in Vorontsovka
Pictured: a family plunge into icy water during the celebration of Epiphany in Kiev, Ukraine
'It's great, it's the best Russian tradition,' Muscovite Yevgeny Goloshchapov said, a towel draped across his shoulders.
The tradition in recent years has been embraced by politicians and diplomats, with President Vladimir Putin participating last year, as well as the US Ambassador in Moscow Jon Huntsman Jr.
In Russia's coldest region of Yakutia, the local governor submerged himself in the Lena river despite temperatures of -42 degrees Celsius, his office said.
In Donetsk, Ukraine, a woman takes an icy dip in the pond of Shcherbakov Park
This aerial shot shows an Orthodox believe bathing a cross shaped ice hole in Kiev, Ukraine, earlier today
The tradition in recent years has been embraced by politicians and diplomats, with President Vladimir Putin participating last year. Pictured: priests blessing the water at the Kiziltash Monastery of St Stephen of Surozh in Sudak, Crimea
In a poll published on Friday a fifth of all respondents said they planned to take the Epiphany dive, up from 15 percent last year. Pictured: Semigorye, Russia
Traditionally, believers dip themselves into the water three times. Pictured: a man in the icy water of the Velikaya River in Pskov, Russia
Pictured: a man takes a dip in the icy water of a pond near Joseph Volokolamsk Monastery in Moscow
A woman reacts as she climbs out of icy water having taken a dip for Epiphany in Donetsk, Ukraine, earlier today
In a poll published on Friday a fifth of all respondents said they planned to take the Epiphany dive, up from 15 percent last year.
Ironically, some Orthodox clerics say the ice dive challenge is not actually a canonical tradition and dismiss it as a fad.
'There is a trend that external rites of big church holidays become national traditions, and the original meaning of the holiday is forgotten,' said Panteleimon, a high-ranking bishop in charge of charity at the Russian Orthodox Church.
'I never dive in an ice hole,' he told the Izvestia newspaper.
Pictured: an Orthodox Christian takes a bath in an ice hole in a bay of the Pacific Ocean outside the Russian town of Kholmsk
Pictured: servicemen of the Belarusian Interior Ministry's special unit queue to dip themselves in the icy water as one man crosses himself in Gorodishche, Belarus
This picture, taken with a drone, shows Orthodox Christians getting into the Bugaj River in Piotrkow Trybunalski, Poland
A group of believers take a dip during celebrations of the Orthodox Christian feast of Epiphany in Kiev, Ukraine
Ironically, some Orthodox clerics say the ice dive challenge is not actually a canonical tradition and dismiss it as a fad. Pictured: St Elizabeth Monastery in the Minsk Region, Belarus
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News Photo Russian Orthodox Christians take dips in icy water for Epiphany celebrations
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