The man powered ice wench was very cool. And might be a good name for a band. "Ice Wench"

How is that car not written off?
Would it even start?

Hopefully they can recover the dashcam footage!

That is Genius! I'd like to see how they keep the post planted in the ice safely. It looks like a steel tube.

If it wasn't running when it went through the ice there's a very good chance that with very little work the engine and mechanicals would be fine. A strip down clean and rebuild would be the worst case scenario there. The electrics may be shot, but replacing those wouldn't be too hard with a donor car from a scrappy. Likewise with the interior. Take it all out and let it dry properly and it'll be fine. Certainly a lot better than not having a car.

In the west we often think about things like this in terms of how much it would cost to pay someone else to do all this for us. The owner of the car in Russia would be much more likely to do the work themselves. So, the cost becomes the cost of parts, rather than labor - and labor is often the most expensive part of any repair job.

Besides that, even if it was a write off it's far better for the environment (and these guys are probably eating fish they pull out of that lake) and for the owner if they get the car out of the lake.

Don't open the door -- it'll get wet inside!

I believe they were letting water out.

Well at least they won't have to wash it

How do they even know the ice is thick enough to support the weight of the car NOW?!? I mean, clearly it got there somehow. Someone's bad judgment about ice thickness and whatnot ended up with an improvised submarine. How do they decide that now is the time to try?

Anyone else think of Conan the Barbarian?

The car's condition depends mainly on whether or not the engine was running at the time the air intake was submerged (water does not compress well inside a cylinder) and if the water is fresh or salt. This is lake Baikal so it's fresh. The blurb a the end says its during the Baikal Cup ice yachting event and you can see some ice boats in the background so the ice is probably safe in most areas, just not in this one.

I'd like to know how they got the whatever attached to the bottom of the car.

That's how they moved the monoliths at Stonehenge.

I've seen the full version where they flashed to the back seat and reveal the bodies: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcMzaVGxOrM

What are the little nets on sticks? Is it to remove ice from the water?

Now we know how the car got there . . .