Chairman of the A Just Russia party Nikolai Levichev proposed making Cosmonautics Day an official public holiday and a non-working day. The corresponding bill will be submitted to the State Duma, Interfax reports .

The deputy noted that currently April 12 is only a professional holiday for cosmonauts. “We urgently need to correct this situation and perpetuate the glory of Gagarin in our homeland,” Levichev added, commenting on the initiative.

In order not to change the total number of days off in the year, Levichev proposed shortening the New Year holidays by making January 8 a working day.

The Chairman of A Just Russia referred to foreign experience in celebrating scientific achievements at the state level. He cited the example of Columbus Day, which is celebrated in Latin American countries in honor of the navigator's discovery of the New World on October 12.

This is not the first time that a bill to give Cosmonautics Day the status of a state holiday has been submitted to the State Duma. Deputies and initiative groups made similar proposals in 2001 and 2006 , but then these initiatives did not receive support.

Cosmonautics Day was first celebrated in the USSR on April 12, 1962 - on the first anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight into space. In 2011, this date was recognized by the UN General Assembly as the International Day of Human Space Flight. Informal celebrations that take place on this day around the world received the name “Yuri's Night” in 2001.

Deputies proposed making Cosmonautics Day a day off