RAW: Russians take icy water bath to celebrate Orthodox Epiphany

Hundreds of Muscovites braved minus 10 degree Celsius weather and plunged into icy water at Serebryany Bor Park overnight on Monday through Tuesday (January 18-19) to celebrate the Orthodox Epiphany.

After a priest blessed the water, people formed a queue to the hole cut in the frozen lake and started dipping in to the freezing water.

Every year, tens of thousands of Russian Orthodox Church followers dipped into ice holes cut in rivers and ponds across the country to mark Epiphany, cleansing themselves with holy water.