NOVOSIBIRSK, May 11. Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina will arrive in Novosibirsk at the end of June this year during the celebration of the 130th anniversary of the city, it is planned to confer on her the title of «Honorary resident of the city,» Mayor Anatoly Lokot told reporters on Thursday.
Earlier, the commission of the city council of Novosibirsk recommended the session to award the title of «Honorary Citizen» to nine natives of Novosibirsk, including Kikina, famous musician Vadim Repin and other famous citizens. Posthumously, this title is planned to be awarded to one of the founders of cosmonautics, Yuri Kondratyuk, and the director of the Novosibirsk Instrument-Making Plant named after V.I. Lenin, Boris Galushchak. The session will take place on May 31st.
«We invite you to come on the day of the awards, during the celebration of the 130th anniversary, the anniversary of our city … we turned to Vadim Repin, to Anna Kikina. By the way, there is confirmation from Anna Kikina, from Roskosmos that she will arrive,» Lokot said.
Kikina will hold a series of meetings with the residents of Novosibirsk, with schoolchildren, and will visit her native school. A plan for her stay in the city is being drawn up. According to Lokt, the well-known violinist and artistic director of the Trans-Siberian Art Festival Vadim Repin also received an invitation to visit Novosibirsk.
Anna Kikina, the only woman in the Russian cosmonaut corps, made her first flight to the International Space Station from October 5, 2022 to March 12, 2023. She was the first of the Russians to arrive and returned from the station on the American ship Crew Dragon. In the history of Russia and the USSR, six women have been in space, including Kikina.
Events dedicated to the 130th anniversary of Novosibirsk will be held on June 24 and 25 this year.