On the same date as Russian Students' Day - January 25 - an official ceremony took place on Russky Island, near the new campus of the Far Eastern Federal University.
A host of officials attended the event, along with a galaxy of Russian sports stars.
FISU vice-president and president of the Russian Student Sports Union Oleg Matytsin lit the torch and passed it to the first torchbearer – famous Russian ice hockey player Aleksey Morozov.
Morozov, captain of Ak Bars Kazan, silver medallist at the 1998 Winter Olympiс Games in Nagano, two-time IIHF world champion and Kazan 2013 ambassador, was joined by the likes of tennis star Dinara Safina and Olympic silver medallist fencer Kamilla Gafurzyanova.
Also in attendance were legendary Russian volleyball player Ekaterina Gamova and popular television presented Irina Shadrina.
In his address to the students of Far Eastern Federal University, Matytsin said it was a unique opportunity and a great joy to welcome the torch relay on Student’s Day and expressed his hope that the flame will be a symbol of sports, education and culture.
Sixty torchbearers carried the flame on the day with Tatiana Zubareva, a student of the Far Eastern Federal University and Kazan 2013 volunteer, carrying it on the final stretch before the cauldron in Vladivostok was ignited.
The flame will now be put inside a special display case and stored for a month at the Far Eastern Federal University before it continues its journey to Khabarovsk, the next stop on the way to Kazan.
On its route across Russia from west to east, the flame will be carried to Russia’s 30 top student cities, passing through 43 municipal districts in the Republic of Tatarstan before finishing its journey in Kazan on July 6, the day of the 2013 Summer Universiade opening ceremony.
