History will recall Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev as the last citizen of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. More importantly, his story marks the end of an era with the unexpected collapse of the Soviet Union and its breakup into 15 independent nations in 1991.
Cosmonaut Krikalev was launched from the Soviet Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, a Soviet Republic in May, 1991. He traveled to the Soviet “MIR” space station orbiting 200 miles above the Earth. MIR is a Russian word for “Peace”. While Krikalev was aboard the MIR, the Soviet Union unexpectedly collapsed on 26 December, 1991. The resulting confusion and disarray on Earth left Krikalev stranded in orbit. After 311 days in space, Krikalev returned to Earth on 25 March, 1992. The country he landed in was not the country he left in 1991. The USSR no longer existed. He landed at the same Cosmodrome which was now in the independent country of Kazakhstan. The MIR space station was sovereign Soviet territory and he was the last Soviet to occupy that territory. After he landed, the Russians required him to get a new Russian passport as his Soviet passport was issued by a country which no longer existed.
Krikalev continued his career as a cosmonaut. He became the first Russian to fly on the Space Shuttle with American Astronauts. He flew two missions. He also served twice on the International Space Station. On one of his space shuttle missions, he launched on a Russian rocket from Kazakhstan and returned with the space shuttle to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Those were the days of scientific cooperation and teamwork without politics.
Cosmonaut Krikalev retired from space travel in 2007. He had accumulated 803 days in space. Although finished with cosmonaut duties, he remained an important figure in the Russian space program and served as an adviser and consultant to both the Russian and American space programs. At one time he was placed in charge of all Russian cosmonaut training. Every Russian school kid today knows the story of Cosmonaut Yuri Gargarin but few have even heard the name of Cosmonaut Krikalev. Gargarin is memorialized with a 139 foot tall titanium monument in Moscow. There are no statues to Cosmonaut Krikalev.
Today, the Last Soviet Citizen is 67 years old. He lives in Saint Petersburg, Russia. He and his wife, Yelena, first met “over the radio” while he was a cosmonaut and she was an engineer at mission control. They have one daughter. Sergei is a strong supporter of his close friend, Vladimir Putin.
“Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter”. Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
By Paul Warrick: November 9, 2025 – Great Falls, Mt
Author: Staff
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