Python 2.6.5 (release26-maint, May 23 2010, 14:21:41) 
[GCC 4.3.4] on linux2
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> 'ыфвафыаып'
'\xd1\x8b\xd1\x84\xd0\xb2\xd0\xb0\xd1\x84\xd1\x8b\xd0\xb0\xd1\x8b\xd0\xbf'

Python 3.1.2 (release31-maint, Jun 29 2010, 17:54:11) 
[GCC 4.4.3] on linux2
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> 'ыфвафыаып'
'ыфвафыаып'