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MOSCOW, May 23. Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky, a former attack pilot, at the state awards ceremony asked Russian President Vladimir Putin not to «discount «him and other astronauts with aviation experience when they can no longer fly into orbit.
“I, as an officer who worked as an aircraft controller in the Botlikh region of Dagestan, as an attack pilot who performed tasks as intended, now, as a cosmonaut, I want to assure that I and my colleagues in the cosmonaut detachment are always ready to fulfill any tasks assigned by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, tasks set by our people, and not only for peaceful, but, if necessary, for military, combat purposes,» Novitsky said.
“Please do not discount us when we are unable to perform space flight due to health reasons. But in general, we are normal healthy men,” added the 51-year-old native of Belarus, who received the title of Hero of Russia in 2014.
Novitsky thanked the President, who, after the third flight to the ISS, presented him with the Order of Merit to the Fatherland, III degree, for the high appreciation of the work of the crew in orbit. He also said «a simple human thank you» to the participants in the special operation, who also received state awards that day.
The cosmonaut is sure that «the guys at the forefront» are having a hard time right now. At the same time, he stressed that Russia has never had simple times. «At all times, our enemies, mostly Western ones, have tried to seize our land, enslave our people, tried to destroy our invincibility gene given by our ancestors, the gene of our national power, the gene of self-sacrifice, if this is necessary for the life of a neighbor. The gene that wakes up, probably , in every Belarusian, Dagestanian, Buryat, Jew, when we see a direct threat to our native land, our relatives and friends,» Novitsky said.
«And for some reason, none of the leaders of Western states — experienced, elected or simply appointed — lacks the intelligence to understand that we are invincible, simply invincible. We can just be distracted for a while, excuse me, hit everyone on the neck and to return to a peaceful way of life again,» the cosmonaut stated.
Novitsky's crew colleague Pyotr Dubrov, who made his first flight to the International Space Station, received the Star of the Hero of Russia from the hands of the President. He thanked his relatives and friends who helped him in his life, noting that the astronauts can safely work at the station thanks to the huge number of people working on Earth.
«These are the creators of our most reliable space technology, and those who teach, prepare us for our space flights, who accompany us, send us into orbit and meet us, help us to rehabilitate. Only thanks to their work we are still rightfully considered one of the leading space powers,» Dubrov said.
The cosmonaut added that it was a great honor for him to be in the same ranks with those who received their award for their exploits on the battlefield. “Today, when once again the masks are thrown off and Western Nazism has shown its true face to the world, the great-grandchildren, grandchildren of those who defended us during the Second World War, also stood up on the battlefields not only to protect innocent people, but also humanity itself. thank you and low bow to all of you,» said Dubrov.