Beer in Russia will become an alcoholic drink for the first time today.

Many Russians consider beer a soft drink - a light refreshment that can be guzzled on the way to work or downed in great quantities before a picnic and a swim in the river.

Beer ... previously considered a soft drink in Russia. Credit:Arsineh Houspian

Hard drinkers sniff at its weakness, and there is a saying: "Beer without vodka is like throwing money to the wind."

But a hung-over nation will wake up to a new and troubling reality when, with the new year, beer becomes classified as an alcoholic drink for the first time.