Olympic flame to warm Siberia on longest torch relay in history

It will travel to the bottom of Lake Baikal, the world's deepest lake, and cross 32 million railway sleepers, mostly on the Trans-Siberian train. 

The flame is expected to keep the Olympic spirit alight in temperatures of below minus 40C as it crosses Siberia. 

'The Sochi 2014 relay has a mission of great responsibility, to unite the whole country, and in the process to rediscover the diversity and beauty of Russia, first of all for Russians themselves,' said Sochi 2014 president Dmitry Chernyshenko.

'For one day, every city where the relay passes through will be a capital of the Olympic flame, and this is a unique chance for these places to put themselves on the map.'

The flame will arrive in Moscow from Greece on 7 October 2013, before starting a 123-day odyssey covering 83 towns and cities, one for every region in Russia, covering nine time zones on a 65,000 km journey, and taking in a distance equal to more than one and a half times around the circumference of the world. 

From the capital city, the flame will head to Kamchatka, with a 2,000km flight between Norilsk and Yakuysk en route, before going on to Vladivostok and then across southern Siberia via Lake Baikal. 

It will be carried by planes, trains, buses, river barges, a mini-submarine in Lake Baikal, and even a Russian 'troika', a traditional sleigh pulled by three horses.

Some 14,000 torchbearers will be involved, and 130 million Russians will be able to see it.