Former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly returns a Russian spaceflight medal

NASA astronaut Scott Kelly returns to Earth after a year-long mission in space. Image Credit Pix11.

Scott Kelly has found a new way to show his anger with Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

The former NASA astronaut has been a vociferous opponent of the invasion, repeatedly expressing his unhappiness with Russian aggressiveness on Twitter, in Russian. (All astronauts who visit the International Space Station must be fluent in English and Russian, and Kelly has made three missions to the orbiting lab.)

Дети гибнут. Дети ранены. Дети глубоко травмированы насилием вокруг них. А теперь ещё и полмиллиона детей-беженцев. https://t.co/006zte4Q8F

— Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) March 3, 2022

Some of Kelly's frustration has been focused on Russia's state space agency Roscosmos and its chief, Dmitry Rogozin, who has responded with insults of his own and has eventually blocked Kelly on Twitter.

Kelly's words carry weight, and not just because they are written in Russian. Two of his missions to the space station were onboard the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, for example, and he finished a whole mission aboard the orbiting lab with Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko from March 2015 to March 2016.

Kelly won a Russian spaceflight medal for his achievements, but he no longer wants it.

"Greetings, Mr. Medvedev. I am returning the Russian award "For Merit in Space Travel" that you awarded to me "Kelly posted a tweet on Wednesday (in Russian; translation provided by Google). "Please donate it to a Russian mother whose son was killed in this heinous conflict. I'll send the medal to Russia's embassy in Washington. Best wishes."

Господин Медведев, я возвращаю Вам российскую медаль “За заслуги в освоении космоса», которую вы мне вручили. Пожалуйста, отдайте его русской матери, чей сын погиб в этой несправедливой войне. Я отправлю медаль по почте в посольство России в Вашингтоне. Удачи. https://t.co/n8jMTX34pW pic.twitter.com/qpI1YNKps3

— Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) March 9, 2022

He was speaking to Dmitry Medvedev, who is presently the deputy chairman of Russia's security council and served as the country's president from 2008 to 2012, as well as its prime minister from 2012 to 2020. Kelly's tweet came in response to one sent by Medvedev on International Women's Day, March 8th.

"Merry Christmas, beautiful ladies! Love, joy, and good health!" Medvedev wrote (in Russian) as a kind of caption to a 105-second clip he shared the same day.

Source: Original Author of the Article Mike Wall.  Toisthe collects the article and furnishes it.