A ceremonial reception was held in Moscow on the occasion of the return of the first space photo exhibition "Into the Cosmos of the Russian Soul" to Earth. The project includes 12 works that were aboard the International Space Station (ISS) during the expedition of Oleg Kononenko, commander of the "Roscosmos" cosmonaut squad.

During the exhibition's run, it was visited by six Russian cosmonauts and ten American astronauts, as well as the international crew of the Axiom Space tourist mission. The project was organized by "Roscosmos" and the Russian Peace Foundation, with participation from the Peter Baryshnikov Foundation for the Development of Arts and Photography and the ProLab Center.

At the final meeting of the project, Oleg Kononenko was awarded the Russian Peace Foundation medal. It should be noted that following his fifth spaceflight, Oleg Dmitrievich returned as the absolute world record holder for the total time spent in space. Throughout all his orbital missions, he spent 1,111 days in space, which is over three years.

Recently, Oleg Kononenko received another honor: he was named an Honorary Citizen of Samara Region. This region of Russia considers him its cosmonaut. In the city on the Volga River, Oleg Dmitrievich began his professional career as a design engineer at the Kuybyshev Central Specialized Design Bureau.

In early December, thanks to Oleg Kononenko, the iconic Chekhovian "Seagull" from the MKhAT theater returned home after spending a year in space. He and his colleague Nikolai Chub attended a performance of "The Seagull," directed by Konstantin Khabensky, based on Anton Chekhov's play.

After the premiere, Oleg Kononenko took the stage and returned the MKhAT symbol, the seagull, to Konstantin Khabensky, which had spent a year in orbit. In the summer of 2023, the cosmonaut received the MKhAT seagull figurine from Konstantin Khabensky, and it became a weightlessness indicator for the crew of the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft.

Moreover, attending performances at MAT has become a new tradition for space crews, similar to watching the film "White Sun of the Desert" at Baikonur (the film, as a reminder, was partially shot in Turkmenistan).

Leonid Kiyashko, special correspondent for ORIENT, Guild of Interethnic Journalism, Russia, Ivanovo