Kinshasa, April 13th, 2021 (CPA) – The Ambassador of the Russian Federation in Democratic Republic of Congo, Alexey Sentebov, announced on Monday that a bust of the first human spaceflight cosmonaut, Russian Yuri Gagarin, will be soon to be installed at the University of Kinshasa (UNIKIN).
Ambassador Sentebov, who indicated this at the opening of the photo exhibition organized at the medical faculty of this alma mater on the sidelines of the 60th anniversary of the first manned space flight, on April 12th, 1961 said that 55 busts and 5 monuments of cosmonaut Gagarin are installed in 42 countries around the world, like the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville).
The rector of UNIKIN, Prof. Daniel Ngoma-Ya-Nzuzi, thanked the President of the Republic, Felix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo for the excellent relations maintained between DRC and Russia, before also thanking the Russian ambassador for the choice focused on its institution for the commemoration of this historic event.
« With joy, the management committee of UNIKIN welcomed the proposal to install on our university site a bust of the first cosmonaut to remind our students and researchers of this technological feat » he insisted.
The merits of Yuri Gagarin
The Russian ambassador indicated that Gagarin has received many distinctions abroad including the Order of the African Star, continuing that he was named honorary member of the International Academy of Astronautics.
« In the days of the former USSR, he received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union as well as other honors including that of the Order of Lenin », he said.
For the Russian diplomat, the events linked to the 60th anniversary of the first manned space flight give a positive impetus to the development of cultural ties between the peoples of DRC and Russia. ACP /
