Russian President Vladimir Putin takes an icy dip to mark Epiphany

by

The footage shows the 68-year-old leaving a log cabin in a long sheepskin coat, undressing himself three times and immersing himself in a cruciform pool topped with an ice-carved crucifixion statue.

Temperatures in the Moscow region have been around -20 degrees Celsius (-4 degrees Fahrenheit) for the past week.

Epiphany Day, celebrated on January 19, commemorates the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River. On Epiphany, water is considered sacred, and many people in Russia and Eastern Europe take a dip as a sign of their Orthodox Christian faith.

Why Putin wants to keep Navalny locked up

The tradition is widely believed to bring good health, strengthen the immune system, and wash away sins.

Putin’s photo comes as Russia works to ramp up vaccination efforts and get the coronavirus outbreak under control, days after his political rival Alexei Navalny was arrested on his return to Moscow.

Putin’s blue swimsuit in the footage was spotted on Russian social media, given their resemblance to the missing blue underwear allegedly used to poison Navalny with Novichok nerve agent last year.

Navalny has told CNN he is confident Putin was aware of an extensive shadow operation by elite agents before he was poisoned. The Kremlin has previously denied any involvement in Navalny’s poisoning.
Putin’s icy dip isn’t the first time he’s stripped down in public. In 2018, he bathed in the icy waters of Lake Seliger to mark Epiphany. He was also photographed topless while fishing in 2017 and bare-chested while on vacation in 2009.

.Source