Space enthusiasts in Russia have used the surface of a frozen lake to pay tribute to the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin.

In the Ryazan region, south of Moscow, the image was created by Alexei Busarov, ahead of Tuesday's 55th anniversary of the historic flight. The filming shows several people clearing out paths of snow on the width of the lake, to outline the famous cosmonaut's portrait.

The classic image of Gagarin depicts his face in a helmet with the letters reading "USSR" ready to dart off into space. Gagarin was just 27 years old when in 1961, he completed humankind's first orbit around the earth, in the "Vostok 1" rocket.