Putin swims in icy water (Video)

In many parts of the world, the Festival of Blessed Water is held on January 6, but many Orthodox Russians mark this day with immersion in the icy waters of rivers and lakes on January 19th. The city of Moscow took steps to organise diving in its 60 countries under this event this year.

Putin did not explain where he did his turn, but said it was in the Moscow area.

Water immersion on the day of Epiphany recalls the baptism of Jesus Christ in the Jordan River. Scenes similar to those of Russia took place in Belgrade, where believers were thrown into the cold waters of the Sava River to pick up the wooden cross.

The short ceremony on the shore with the music and women dressed in garments that reminded the medieval ones, the group, dubbed “The royal knight's Order”, also responsible for the important Measical Festival held every summer in Serbia.

Waterflow on the day of Epiphany is a renewed tradition in Serbia two decades ago with the blessing of the Serbian patriarch and over those years has been organised in almost all of the country's rivers.