President Medvedev has announced that Russia will not come off daylight saving time starting autumn 2011. Medvedev argued that switching clocks twice a year is harmful for people’s health and triggers stress.

­The move means that Moscow and St. Petersburg will stay at GMT+4 hours year-round, instead of reverting to GMT+3 for the winter period. Mid-winter sunrise in Moscow will therefore occur at around 10am, with an even later daybreak for the northern capital.

“Every fall and every spring we are swearing at this system,” Medvedev said. “Our biorhythms are damaged. We are all angry. We either oversleep and turn up late for work or wake up too early and don’t know what to do with this free time. Let alone poor cows and other animals that can’t understand why they should have their meals or be milked earlier or later.”