Russia Cold Spell

An elderly woman looks on while braving the freezing outdoors in Tomilino, a town outside Moscow, Russia, Friday, Jan. 20, 2006. Arctic temperatures gripping most of Russia has pushed the reported death toll close to 40 on Friday as weather forecasters warned that no major thaw is expected in Moscow before February.

In -22 C (-8 F) temperatures, a man gives up on starting his car, covered with ice, after a nearby hot-water pipe ruptured in St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, Jan 20, 2006. Russians are used to the cold -- many live in Arctic areas where such temperatures are normal for winter -- so their frustration and suffering are mixed with high spirits or ambivalence.

In arctic temperatures, a newly married couple runs to a car after paying a traditional wedding visit to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Kremlin wall in Moscow, Friday, Jan. 20, 2006, with some of the Red Square landmarks in the background. Shown, from right, are: Kremlin's Corner Arsenal, and St. Nicholas and Spasskaya (Saviour) towers.

A man braving freezing temperatures walks in a street in Moscow, Friday, Jan. 20, 2006. Arctic temperatures gripping most of Russia have pushed the reported death toll up and no break is expected in Moscow before February.

People braving freezing temperatures walk in a street in Moscow, Friday, Jan. 20, 2006.

Ice-covered trees are seen in the city of Yekaterinburg, 900 miles east of Moscow, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2006, as temperatures reach - 32 C (- 26 F). Arctic temperatures grippped most of Russia for a fourth day Thursday, sending electricity use surging as towns and cities struggle to maintain indoor temperatures.

People braving freezing temperatures walk in a street in Moscow, Friday, Jan. 20, 2006.

A black swan tries to free its feathers from ice in the Moscow Zoo Thursday, Jan. 19, 2006. Russia was gripped by a persistent and deep cold snap Thursday with temperatures as low as -31 C (-24 F), killing more people on Moscow's frigid streets.

An elderly local resident braves the outdoors in the city of Yekaterinburg, 900 miles east of Moscow, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2006.

People brave freezing temperatures as they enter and leave an underground passage in a street in Moscow, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2006.

Women enjoy swimming in warm water in an open swimming pool in downtown Moscow, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2006. Temperatures dropped to -30 C (-22 F) overnight in Moscow, First Deputy Mayor Pyotr Aksyonov said in televised comments, and were expected to reach -35 C (-31 F) early Thursday.

A man crosses himself as he plunges in the icy water of the Moskva River to mark Russian Orthodox Epiphany in Moscow, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2006.

A man looks through a frozen window of a bus in Moscow on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2006. Muscovites endured the second day of a cold snap on Wednesday, using a record amount of electric power to keep warm.

Municipal workers wearing makeshift half masks, rimmed with frost, ride a mini snowplow in downtown Moscow, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2006.

People walk along a tramway, while trams are paralyzed by frost in Yekaterinburg, about 900 miles east of Moscow, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2006.

A Russian man gets out of an ice hole after swimming in the Neva River, with the Savior on Spilled Blood Cathedral in the background, in downtown St. Petersburg, Russia, Tuesday, Jan. 17 , 2006. The temberature is -19 C (-2 F). Temperatures dropped as a cold wave hit.

Smoke billows from a power plant in Moscow Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2006.

A homeless man with dogs warms himself at an underground ventilation grill in central Moscow, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2006.

People walk past underground ventilation vents, where pigeons huddle in the warmth to save themselves from the cold in Moscow, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2006.

A man helps a fire victim get out of the residential block as a firefighter stands outside the entrance to an apartment building in Yekaterinburg, 900 miles east of Moscow, Russia, Jan. 17, 2006.