Russia switches to winter time

MOSCOW, October 25 (RIA Novosti) - Russia switched to winter time at 3:00 a.m. local time on Sunday, and clocks were set back one hour.

Russia changes to daylight saving time (DST) and back on the same date as Europe, moving clocks forward one hour on the last Sunday of March and back one hour on the last Sunday of October. The first recorded time change in Russia was in 1917.

However, the International Space Station (ISS) continues to operate on Greenwich Mean Time, while Russia's Mission Control remains on Moscow Standard Time, which is three hours ahead of GMT and does not change for the summer.

Moscow Standard Time is also used on all Russian piloted and unmanned spacecraft, and for ground-based tracking facilities.

Daylight saving time, also called summer time, is practiced in every European country except Iceland, as well as in many other countries around the world, to make better use of daylight hours for the purpose of saving energy.

Doctors have argued whether switching to DST and back is harmful to people's health, with some saying the switch deteriorates the condition of people with cardiovascular diseases and unstable psyche, and others denying that any serious harm could be inflicted.