Archive · 15 Aug 2026
Russian Cosmonauts Salute India From Space on 80th Independence Day
Three astronauts from Russia sent a special video message to the people of India.
They sent it from the International Space Station, which floats very high above Earth.
In the video, they held up the Indian flag and said happy Independence Day.
India was celebrating 80 years of being a free country.
The astronauts said India and Russia have been friends for a very long time.
Long ago, Russia helped launch India's first satellite, called Aryabhata.
A Russian spacecraft also carried Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian person to travel to space.
Russia is now helping India train its own astronauts for a mission called Gaganyaan.
The crew also showed off winning drawings from a space art contest run with India.
They wished everyone in India peace and happiness, ending with cheers for India-Russia friendship.
Three Russian cosmonauts recorded a video from the International Space Station wishing India on its 80th Independence Day.
The cosmonauts displayed the Indian flag and winning artworks from a Roscosmos-ISRO drawing competition aboard the station, 408 kilometres above Earth.
Their message marked the 65th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's pioneering 1961 human spaceflight and recalled his November 1961 visit to India.
Cosmonaut Anna Kikina recalled that cooperation began with the 1975 Soviet launch of India's first satellite, Aryabhata, and Rakesh Sharma's 1984 Soyuz T-11 flight.
Indian astronaut-designates trained at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center for the Gaganyaan mission, and the message closed with 'Long live India-Russia friendship.'
- Who
- Three Russian cosmonauts — Pyotr Dubrov, Anna Kikina and Andrey Fedyaev — aboard the International Space Station.
- What
- Recorded a video message with the Indian flag, congratulating India on 80 years of independence and celebrating India-Russia space cooperation.
- When
- On India's 80th Independence Day.
- Where
- International Space Station, 408 kilometres above Earth.
- Why
- To mark the milestone and the 65th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's first human spaceflight, and to celebrate the time-tested India-Russia space partnership.
- Occasion
- India's 80th Independence Day
- Messengers
- Cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov, Anna Kikina and Andrey Fedyaev
- Location
- International Space Station, 408 km above Earth
- Historic milestone
- 65th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's 1961 spaceflight
- Gagarin's India visit
- November 1961
- India's first satellite
- Aryabhata, launched on a Soviet rocket in 1975
- First Indian in space
- Rakesh Sharma, aboard Soyuz T-11 in 1984
- Gaganyaan training
- Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, Star City
