Three days of competition will take place at Snezhinka Stadium in Chaykovskiy with roller-skis used by the competitors. 

Twenty countries have registered with 74 men and 53 women due to compete in all.

With the Pyeongchang 2018 Olympics looming in February, the competition allows vital training before the snow season begins again this winter. 

Hosts Russia have named three Olympic champions in their squad, including Sochi 2014 4x7.5 kilometre relay champions Anton Shipulin and Alexey Volkov.

The pair were also part of the quartet which won the world title in Hochfilzen this year and are joined by Svetlana Sleptsova, a relay champion from Vancouver 2010.

Slovakia's Martin Otčenáš will be another name to watch with the Winter Olympian claiming three gold medals at last year's Summer World Championships in Otepaa, Estonia.

He will be hoping to defend his crowns in the sprint and pursuit disciplines.

Vladimir Chepelin of Belarus, Bulgaria's Krasimir Anev, Florent Claude of Belgium and Latvian Ilmars Bricis will also hope to perform well, alongside a strong Ukrainian squad.

In women's events, Kristina Ilchenko and Daria Yurkevich of Belarus, Slovakia's Paulina Fialkova, Galina Vishnevskaya of Kazakhstan and South Korea's Russian-born competitor Ekaterina Avvakumova will be ones to watch.

Tickets for the event are sold out with the mixed relay for seniors and juniors beginning competition tomorrow.

Sprint events take centre stage on Saturday (August 26) before pursuit on Sunday (August 27).