If you're growing increasingly worried the Mayan doomsday is approaching, you're not alone -- and you've likely got a Russian comrade suffering from the same fears.
The New York Times reports the end-of-the-world-anxiety has Russians so tightly in its grip that the Russian government felt the need to address the situation.
According to the Times' report, Russia's minister of emergency situations Vladimir Puchkov reassured the country's citizens on Friday he is sure the world will not end in December and that "he had access to methods of monitoring what is occurring on the planet Earth.”
Pushkov did admit, however, that "Russians were still vulnerable to blizzards, ice storms, tornadoes, floods, trouble with transportation and food supply, breakdowns in heat, electricity and water supply," the Times added.
Dec. 21, 2012 marks the end of the Mayan calendar, and some doomsday believers predict the world will come to a calamitous end that day.
SPACE.com explains:
These fears are based on misinterpretations of the Mayan calendar. On the 21st, the date of the winter solstice, a calendar cycle called the 13th b'ak'tun comes to an end. Although Maya scholars agree that the ancient Maya would not have seen this day as apocalyptic, rumors have spread that a cosmic event may end life on Earth on that day.
Although scientists have tried hard to counter the apocalyptic predictions, thousands of people across Russia are preparing for the worst. According to Russia Today, some have stocked their back rooms and balconies with food, fuel and other supplies, while others have decided to move away from large cities.
The website even reports a Siberian company has decided to seize the moment by selling end-of-the-world-survival kits, which include medication, heart medicine, soap, candles and matches, vodka, a can of fish, a pack of buckwheat, a bottle of vodka, a notepad and pencil, a game of cards and a rope. While the company has already sold more than 1,000 kits, it emphasized that its product is to be taken "with a pinch of salt," RT.com writes.