(20 Jan 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Moscow, Russia – 19 January 2025
1. Various of people on wooden platform at a lake
2. Various of people dipping into icy water
3. Close of man in water
4. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Alexander Solomatin, Sochi resident:
++STARTS ON PREVIOUS SHOT; PART OVERLAID BY SHOT 5++
“I barely found an ice hole, everything in Moscow had melted. It’s spring, unfortunately. But Strogino (district) is a great place. I really liked it, so I dove here. Happy Holiday to everyone.”
5. Man getting out of water
6. Woman getting out of water
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Moscow, Russia – 15 January 2025
7. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Leonid Starkov, leading meteorologist at Gismeteo:
++SOUNDBITE STARTS ON PREVIOUS SHOT AND IS PARTIALLY OVERLAID BY SHOT8++
“A large part of Russia will be warm for these Epiphany celebrations. The average temperature significantly exceeds the norm. For example, we are already seeing a thaw in St. Petersburg. In Moscow, we are seeing a thaw. And in southern Russia, the temperature is already reaching 5 degrees or 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit).”
8. Various of men taking photos
STORYLINE:
Orthodox Christians in Moscow marked Epiphany on Sunday with a traditional dip in icy waters.
Many extol the practice as strengthening of both the soul and the body, although rescue workers are on hand in case anyone succumbs to the heart-racing shock of the icy immersion.
Across Russia, the devout celebrate Epiphany on January 19 by immersing themselves in frigid water through holes cut through the ice of lakes and rivers, imitating the baptism of Jesus Christ in the River Jordan.
However, unusually warm winter temperatures have prompted local emergency services in some regions to cancel events, saying that the ice is simply too thin for worshippers to bathe safely.
Ceremonies have been canceled in areas as distant as the southern Russian region of Saratov to Karelia, almost 1,000 miles away on the country’s border with Finland.
Alexander Solomatin, who came to Moscow from the Black Sea resort of Sochi where it was too warm for the traditional ice hole dipping, said he could hardly find a place to bathe even in the Russian capital.
“Everything in Moscow had melted,” he said.
Temperatures across Russia have been increasing over the past quarter of a century in line with global warming, says meteorologist Leonid Starkov, who works for Moscow’s Gismeteo.
“A large part of Russia will be warm for these Epiphany celebrations. The average temperature significantly exceeds the norm,” he said.
“We are already seeing a thaw in St. Petersburg. In Moscow, we are seeing a thaw. And in southern Russia, the temperature is already reaching 5 degrees or 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit).”
Officials have reacted so far by creating alternative sites for bathers, often in smaller rivers and lakes.
The water is still cold enough to send some worshippers scurrying to wrap themselves in large towels, while onlookers watch on wrapped in scarves, hats and coats.
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