Russia celebrated its longest, biggest and perhaps most favorite festivity as year 2014 began in each of the country's nine time zones – from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in the extreme northeast to the Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad in the West.
© RIA Novosti . Maxim Blinov / Go to the mediabankNew Year festivities in Moscow traditionally centered on the Red Square.
New Year festivities in Moscow traditionally centered on the Red Square.
© RIA Novosti . Maxim Blinov / Go to the mediabankMore than 50,000 people celebrated New Year on Moscow streets.
More than 50,000 people celebrated New Year on Moscow streets.
© RIA Novosti . Mikhail Mokrushin / Go to the mediabankThe Winter Olympic Games in the Black Sea resort of Sochi will be the highlight of the coming year for Russia.
The Winter Olympic Games in the Black Sea resort of Sochi will be the highlight of the coming year for Russia.
© RIA Novosti . Mikhail Mokrushin / Go to the mediabankThe Olympic host city greeted the New Year with a fireworks display.
The Olympic host city greeted the New Year with a fireworks display.
© RIA Novosti . Mikhail Mokrushin / Go to the mediabankNew Year celebrations at the Roza Khutor ski resort near Sochi, where many Olympic competitions will be held.
New Year celebrations at the Roza Khutor ski resort near Sochi, where many Olympic competitions will be held.
© RIA Novosti . Alexander Kryazhev / Go to the mediabankIce swimmers from Novosibirsk, Siberia, bathed in icy cold water.
Ice swimmers from Novosibirsk, Siberia, bathed in icy cold water.
© RIA Novosti . Said Tsarnaev / Go to the mediabankGrozny, the capital of Chechnya, marked New Year with a fireworks display.
Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, marked New Year with a fireworks display.
Russians celebrate New Year on the Red Square.
© RIA Novosti . Alexey Malgavko / Go to the mediabankRussia’s traditional New Year gift-bringers – Father Frost and Snegurochka – are about to congratulate children in the city of Tara, southwest Siberia.
Russia’s traditional New Year gift-bringers – Father Frost and Snegurochka – are about to congratulate children in the city of Tara, southwest Siberia.
© RIA Novosti . Vitaliy Ankov / Go to the mediabankMany residents of Vladivostok, Far East, flocked to the city’s main square to celebrate the New Year.
Many residents of Vladivostok, Far East, flocked to the city’s main square to celebrate the New Year.