On March 4, more than ten ice swimming enthusiasts came to vote for the next Russian president, being semi-naked.

      The group of winter swimmers dressed only in swimsuits has come to the polling station in the Altai region city of Barnaul, Siberia, where temperatures stood at minus 2 degrees Celsius.

       Together with them was a man in a costume of a polar bear, the main symbol of the Polar Bears ice swimming association. It's important to say that the "bear" had a pasport and took part in the voting as well as the other swimmers.

       Leader of the organization said their purpose was to promote their sport and a healthy way of life. He added that the swimmers were popular among local residents, who liked to be photographed with them.

      It is not the first such action of the Polar Bears. On 4 December 2011, at the Parliamentary Elections, they had already surprised the local election commission and other voters.

       However, this time the chairman of the polling station said some voters had complained about the swimmers. “We asked them to leave (the polling station) and to go ice swimming,” he said. But the majority of people took this action with humor.

      The ice swimmers say they plan to to unite all Siberian ice swimmers for the next elections and vote simultaneously in different cities.  

Sources: RIA Novosti vashgorod.ru kp.ru Image: alt.kp.ru