Russian president Vladimir Putin braves subzero lake to mark Orthodox Epiphany

6 years old
Rarely someone to pass up a photo opportunity involving a manly activity and his bare chest, Vladimir Putin has stripped to his swimming trunks and immersed himself in the freezing waters of a lake in north-west Russia to celebrate the feast of Epiphany.

Russian TV filmed the president, 65, marching on to the ice of frozen Lake Seliger, about 250 miles (400 km) north of Moscow, dressed in a cream sheepskin coat and knee-high felt boots and surrounded by chanting Russian Orthodox priests and glittering religious icons.