Russian President Vladimir Putin has stripped off to his bathing trunks and immersed himself in freezing water.

This 65-year-old has a track record of baring his chest in public, but this time he was doing it to mark the Orthodox Christian feast of the Epiphany, which commemorates the baptism of Jesus Christ in the River Jordan. It was unfortunate for Putin that air temperatures at the time were around minus-six degrees Celsius. The Russian president has become a frequent attender of Orthodox ceremonies, and has given the church a major voice in society.