The first roller coasters may have been Russian ice slides built in the late 16th Century.
The Russian president has had cafes, ice-creams and tomatoes named after him, and a 50th birthday is a golden opportunity for another potentially embarrassing outpouring of public affection.
The Russian complaints about their treatment in the ice hockey and cross-country are arguably less concrete.
News of the tragic accident of a mid-sized Yak-42 Russian aircraft sent shockwaves throughout the global ice hockey community.
FORBES: Names Of Deceased KHL Hockey Players Released In Russia
Another project involved the establishment of daily ice and weather observations by indigenous monitors in Alaska, Canada and Russian Chukotka, thus providing an uninterrupted record of indigenous observations covering four consecutive ice seasons.
It looked like a vista from an epic Russian romance tree branches coated with ice and frozen vineyards running along the hilly landscape.
In mid-September, the Kolka Glacier in the Caucasus Mountains collapsed, submerging villages in the Republic of North Ossetia (Russian Federation) under thousands of tons of ice and rock, killing over 120 people.
The US space agency (Nasa) and the Russian academy of sciences are planning to break through the ice to sample the water for life.
BBC: NEWS | Science/Nature | Secret rivers found in Antarctic
Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: Russian researchers say they have brought up fresh samples of clear ice from Antarctica's Lake Vostok, a huge reservoir of freshwater more than 2 miles beneath the surface.
MSN: Undersea eruption gives clues to effects of climate change
In the Danish expedition that set sail this week, the Swedish ice-breaker is being led northwards by a larger Russian one, the 50 Years of Victory.
Having dropped (back in 1990) a plan to build the world's biggest ice-breaker, the Canadians may also have to seek Russian help next time they need to carve out a path to the North Pole: even the patrol boats ordered up by Mr Harper this month won't match Russia's leviathans.
On the same day that BP's results were announced, a judge in London granted a request by Alfa-Access-Renova (AAR), the vehicle through which Russian partners hold their stake in TNK-BP, that the Rosneft deal be put on ice until at least February 25th.
The Russian star made sure the game didn't get to the shootout by taking a cross-ice pass from defenseman Marek Zidlicky low in the left circle and beating Michal Neuvirth before the goalie could get over the cover the side of the net.
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