A lawyer who was swept to her death after she jumped through a Russian ice hole in a frozen river to mark Orthodox Epiphany has been pictured for the first time.
Anna Uskova (mother-of-two), 40, was captured in distressing footage plunging her feet first into the Oredezh River, near Vyra. The video ended just before she vanished.
She was pulled by an almost 10ft current and her children screaming.
Yury (50), her husband, was an entrepreneur, and dived in, but was not able to save Yury.
Anna Uskova, 41, died after jumping into an icehole in Russian to commemorate her epiphany.
In order to commemorate the Christian Orthodox Epiphany of Wednesday, the lawyer plunged into a frozen stream.
The thick ice near Vyra in Russia had been cut to create a rectangle hole. Her jump in the water caused her to be swept away by strong currents. She is believed to have drowned.
St Petersburg’s lawyer wanted to swim in the waters in order to commemorate Christian Orthodox Epiphany, a custom that is continued annually by many thousands of Russian believers.
Some believe that the water blessings for an annual ceremony have special healing powers.
Some go in the freezing waters alone, others in small groups. This is because they remember the baptism of Jesus at the River Jordan.
The thick ice had been cut through and it was around -5C at the time Anna jumped in.
The woman was wearing a black, one-piece swim costume. She then crossed her arms before hopping in the river.
Pictured: Yury (50), a St Petersburg lawyer, with his wife.
She was 10-years-old when her son, Yury (pictured with Anna & Yury), and 14-year-old daughter watched as she passed away.
Anna Uskova (left), bathing in Oredezh, which she drowned later. Strong currents swept the lawyer off her feet.
Nearly a week since the accident, the mother-of-2’s body is still missing
Now, volunteers with underwater drones are going to try and find the body of her dead husband. It was found under the ice.
A 50-year-old man, believed to have been the husband of the woman, tried to save her, but couldn’t find her.
Divers were part of a rescue team which was sent to the site, but the divers could not find the body.
When the woman leapt in, it was believed that the river current was moving at 10 feet per second.
When he saw his female attendant being swept away, a male attendant stood beside her.
The footage captured the trauma and recorded her screaming children (a boy of 10 years old, and a girl aged 14).
As a woman attempted to console them, one cried out “Mama, mama …’,”.
State rescuers have failed multiple times to locate the body of this woman, so volunteers using underwater drones will now try to help.
Vyra can be found just south from St Petersburg in Russia’s Leningrad region.
Pictured: The Oredezh River when it is not frozen. Mr Zuyev said even in summer people often drowned in the fast-flowing river
Anastasia Lunika was the Anna’s swimming coach and she told Komsomolskaya Pravda that Anna is part of a great family.
“Her son came to me for swimming lessons, and he is a great swimmer.
“But Yury called my name that day.
“He was sobbing into his phone.
“He spoke briefly about the tragedy that had befallen the family.
“He stated that his son wouldn’t go to swimming lessons temporarily but would return later.
“His mother was submerged before his eyes…
Yuri asked me immediately if I needed any help, which he denied.
“But his condition, however, is serious.” He was very emotional.
Experts criticized the unapproved use of ice for midnight dips.
Alexander Zuyev from VOSVOD, the head of emergency rescue, stated that “the woman plunged in a spot where there were no rescuers, or adequate lighting in an unsuitable icehole.”
Alexander Zuyev, head of VOSVOD’s emergency rescue services, criticized the placement of an ice hole in a spot where there was strong current.
The rescuers, an ambulance and a wooden frame were all available to aid people entering and exiting the Oredezh River at Vyra Village.
It was easy to let go of the flow.
Her jump momentum pushed her underneath the ice, and she couldn’t get back.
He stated that the river is dangerous and causes many deaths every year in Leningrad, including in summer.
Elsewhere in the village, Vyra village, near Gatchina, in Leningrad region, there was an ‘official’ hole, with rescuers and paramedics on standby, as well as a wooden frame and steps to help people in and out of the water.