More than ten ice swimming enthusiasts voted semi-naked in Siberia on Sunday at Russia's presidential polls.
Clad only in swimwear, they brought the symbol of their club, a polar bear, to a polling station in the Altai region city of Barnaul, where temperatures stood at minus 2 degrees Celsius.
“We've voted like this four times already and plan to unite all Siberian ice swimmers for the next elections and vote simultaneously in our cities,” Alexander Zelenetsky, leader of the Polar Bears ice swimming association said, adding that their purpose was to promote their sport and a healthy way of life.
He also said the swimmers are popular among local residents, who like to be photographed with them.
However, the chairman of the polling station told RIA Novosti that some voters had complained about the swimmers.
“We asked them to leave [the polling station] and to go ice swimming,” he said.
Russians are voting on Sunday to elect a president for the fifth time in the nation’s post-Soviet history. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin faces four opponents, none of which, analysts say, is likely to prove a serious threat to his bid to return to the Kremlin after serving as prime minister for the past four years.
