Shamans conduct the San Salyr rite at an ethnic park of culture and leisure on the bank of the Yenisei River in Kyzyl, the capital of Tyva. This rite welcomes the Sun whose first rays mark the beginning of Shagaa -- Lunar New Year.

A man prepares to dip in the icy waters of the Ob River in Russia's Siberian city of Novosibirsk, with the air temperature at about minus 30 degrees Celsius during an Orthodox Epiphany celebration. January 19, 2010

Volunteers straighten up the course for the men’s super combined at the XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi. Febrary 14, 2014

Ice swimmer from Novosibirsk regularly takes a cold shower outside at minus 35 C. December 15, 2012

Sheeps near the polling station in the village of Belelik, Bogradsky District, Republic of Khakassia. September 7, 2013.

The Falcons of Russia aerobatic demonstration team perform on Su-27 fighters at the Mochishche aerodrome near Novosibirsk as part of "The Continuity of Generations" air festival dedicated to the 100th birthday anniversary of Marshal of the Soviet Air Force, Three Times Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Pokryshkin. July 28, 2013

Sunrise at Altai Region. March 29, 2013

BM 32 "Katysha" combat vehicle in the village of Bolshoi Oyesh during the restoration by master Vyacheslav Veryovochkin. May 8, 2012

A fox at the experimental farm at the Institute of Cytology and Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian Branch. Institute researchers have been domesticating foxes for 50 years. June 15, 2012