They will also facilitate the spread of Olympic and Paralympic values across Russia, having become the second representative from Krasnodar to be part of the ambassadorial team for the Games.

The choir were given their ambassadorial diploma at the Kremlin Grand Palace by the Sochi 2014 President and chief executive, Dmitry Chernyshenko.

The Kuban Cossack Choir artistic director, Viktor Zakharchenko, said: "We thank the Sochi 2014 Organising Committee for the honour of joining the large and close family of Sochi 2014 ambassadors.

"It is essential that in 2014 we greet all the guests and athletes of Kuban not just with traditional 'bread and salt', but also with songs.

"I am convinced that our work will reflect the best of Russia's multinational culture – not least because our Kuban Cossack Choir has performed folk songs for 200 years now!"

Chernyshenko added: "The Kuban Cossack Choir has long been part of various Sochi 2014 projects.

"The Choir has supported us since 2007 when the Sochi 2014 bid won in Guatemala.

"The Choir's interpretation of the Sochi 2014 hymn enchanted everyone during the Vancouver Games.

"The Kuban Cossack Choir has been actively participating in the Sochi 2014 Cultural Olympiad project, the Olympiad's audience to reach more than a million people by the end of this year.

"That's why it is absolutely logical that this collective which is celebrating its bicentenary this year has entered the Sochi 2014 ambassadors' team."

The choir is the oldest and largest Cossack collective in Russia, dating back to 1811.

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