Direct Speech
Dear friends, my congratulations on Aviation and Cosmonautics Day!
10.04.2026
On April 12, 1961 Yuri Gagarin, a citizen of our country, orbited the Earth onboard “Vostok” spacecraft for the first time in mankind history, thus opening the era of manned space missions. The first spaceflight lasted 108 minutes.
Our great space explorers set the highest standards of dedication and service to the Motherland.
Vologda’s residents also made a tangible contribution to aerospace industry development. Our region is proud of Pavel Belyayev, a Vologda-born cosmonaut who flew on the historic Voskhod-2 mission, the Soviet spacecraft that was orbiting the planet on March 18-19, 1965. The spacecraft's crew comprised Alexei Leonov and Pavel Belyaev. Belyayev directed Leonov's first-ever space walk. Alexei Leonov spent 12 minutes and 9 seconds floating in space and was the one who climbed out of the spacecraft and into open space for the first time in history.
On this day, I wish you new discoveries, inspiration and success!
Vologda Region Governor
Georgy Filimonov