Frost is personified in Russian culture as Ded Moroz.

* Ded Moroz,

As a new tourist attraction, the forest features the residence of Grandfather Frost, known as Ded Moroz, the Eastern Slavic Santa Claus, that works all the year round.

# redirect Ded Moroz

A man dressed as Ded Moroz in Veliky Ustyug.

Ded Moroz or Did Moroz (, diminutive: Dedushka Moroz ; ) is a fictional character who in some Slavic cultures plays a role similar to that of Santa Claus.

Ded Moroz is said to bring presents to children, however, unlike the secretive Santa Claus, the gifts are often delivered " in person ", at New Year's Eve parties and other New Year celebrations.

Various agencies provide Ded Moroz visits to families and offices.

The clandestine placing of gifts under a New Year tree occurs when a Ded Moroz visit is not arranged for some reason.

Depictions of Ded Moroz commonly show him accompanied by Snegurochka (), or ' Snow Maiden ', his granddaughter.

She is a unique attribute of Ded Moroz, no traditional gift-givers from other cultures are portrayed with a similar companion.

The traditional appearance of Ded Moroz resembles that of Santa Claus, with his coat, boots and long white beard.

Specifically, Ded Moroz is often shown wearing a heel-length fur coat, a semi-round fur hat, and valenki or jackboots on his feet.

The official residence of Ded Moroz in Russia is considered to be the town of Veliky Ustyug.

The residence of the Belarusian Ded Moroz ( Dzied Maroz in Belarusian ) is said to be in Belavezhskaya Pushcha.

Snow sculpture of Ded Moroz in Samara, Russia | Samara.

The earliest tales of Ded Moroz presented him as a wicked and cruel sorcerer, similar to the Old Slavic gods " Pozvizd "— the god of wind and good and bad weather, " Zimnik "— god of winter, and the terrifying " Korochun "— an underworld god ruling over frosts.

According to legend, Ded Moroz liked to freeze people and kidnap children, taking them away in his gigantic sack.

However, under the influence of Orthodox traditions, the character of Ded Moroz was completely transformed, later adopting certain traits from the Dutch Sinterklaas ( or Saint Nicholas ), the prototype of Santa Claus.

Since the 19th century the attributes and legend of Ded Moroz have been shaped by literary influences.

By the end of the 19th century Ded Moroz had become the most popular of the various mythical New Year gift-givers in Russia.

A man dressed as Ded Moroz in a blue coat.

Similarly, in 1928 Ded Moroz was declared " an ally of the priest and kulak ".

Vladimir Putin, then President of the Russian Federation was reported to have visited Ded Moroz ' residence in Veliky Ustyug on January 7, 2008.

The resurgence of Russia in the early 21st century brought about a renewed emphasis on the basic Slavic character of Ded Moroz.

In November 2009, for the first time, the Russian Federation offered competition to NORAD Tracks Santa with GLONASS Tracks Ded Moroz, which purports to use GLONASS ( GLObal NAvigation Satellite System or “ the Russian GPS ”) to track Ded Moroz on New Years Eve ( according to the Gregorian Calendar ).

The Russian language website ( a language not currently offered by the competing NORAD Tracks Santa ) includes these features: " real-time tracking " of Ded Moroz, " news " of Ded Moroz throughout the year, a form to send e-mail to Ded Moroz, photos, videos, streaming audio of Russian songs, poems and verses from children's letters to Ded Moroz, information on Veliky Ustyug in Vologda Oblast ( considered to be Ded Moroz's hometown ) and opportunities to enter competitions and win prizes.

In Belarus Ded Moroz is known as Dzied Maroz.

"— A history of Ded Maroz in English

People playing Ded Moroz and Snegurochka now typically make appearances at children's parties during the winter holiday season, distributing presents and fighting off the wicked witch, Baba Yaga, who children are told wants to steal the gifts.

There are equivalents of Ded Moroz and Snegurochka all over the former USSR, as well as the countries once in the so-called Soviet bloc and in the former Yugoslavia.

Among the Bay Area bands that got some of their start from playing the Cactus Club are Smash Mouth, The Donnas, Papa Roach, Insolence, Upstart Crow, Ded Neyber, Torn, Diatribe, Monkey, Cafe of Regret, Green Day, Alien Ant Farm, and The Odd Numbers.

They played with Mötley Crüe in October 2008 at the Greater Tokyo Area's Saitama Super Arena, with session drummer Kozo Suganuma ( Fragile, Ded Chaplin ) filling in for Higuchi.

"... the third season, saying: ' The wretched, fallen chief of Libya, Meryre, son of Ded, has fallen upon the country of Tehenu with his bowmen -- Sherden, Shekelesh, Ekwesh, Lukka, Teresh, Taking the best of every warrior and every man of war of his country.

During Stalinist times, Ded Moroz, Snegurochka ( or " Snow Maiden "), and New Year Boy were featured in Communist-type Nativity scenes, or public appearances, with Ded Moroz as the equivalent of Joseph, Snegurochka as the equivalent of Mary, and the New Year Boy as the equivalent of the Christ child.

This included the Russian Federation and subordinate governments sponsoring courses about Ded Moroz every December, with the aim of establishing appropriate Slavic norms for Ded Moroz and Snegurochka (" Snow Maiden "-Ded Moroz ' granddaughter ) roles for the New Year holiday.

Therefore, propaganda attempted to replace him with Dziadek Mróz ( literal translation of Ded Moroz ).

Between 2003 and 2010, the post office in Veliky Ustyug received approximately 2, 000, 000 letters from within Russia and from all over the world for Ded Moroz.

In Slovenia the name Ded Moroz was translated from Russian as Dedek Mraz ( literally, ' Grandpa Frost ').

Some other female saint-poets from this period include Akka Mahadevi, Rami Janabai and Lal Ded.

Joseph Stalin ordered Palace of Unions ' Ded Morozes to wear only blue coats, so that they would not be mistaken for Santa Claus.

Since the 1990s, Veliky Ustyug was marketed as the residence of Ded Moroz, a fictitional character somewhat similar to Santa Claus.