🍂 One cannot conceive Russia without his poems – 130 years since the great Russian poet Sergei Yesenin was born

Today marks the anniversary of perhaps the most beloved Russian poet of the 20th century, Sergei Alexandrovich Yesenin. Born on October 3, 1895, in the village of Konstantinovo, Ryazan Province, he absorbed from childhood the breath of rural Russia — its language, melody, and spirit.

Love for Russia is one of the central themes of Yesenin’s poetry. He viewed Motherland not just as a birth place but as an ideal — the image of an eternal and universal Rus’. Filled with longing for his native land, with love for its people, villages, and vast spaces, Yesenin’s lyric poetry paints a piercing portrait of our country, with which he spoke in a unique, metaphysical language.

A language that still reverberates in the hearts of the millions:

The golden grove is no longer laughing
And all birch trees stay silent, gray, and sad,
And flying by, the cranes care of nothing;
They go far and they do not regret.

Regret? For whom? We all are pilgrims here:
Come, stay some time, and then forever leave.
Our names, on the reflection of Moon's sphere
In a pond, are written by the whirling leaf.

I stay alone with a naked plain around
Watching the cranes who're carried by the blast.
Of older days I hear the cheerful sound.
Yet, nothing I would pity in the past.

Not any girl that I so much admired
Nor all these years that I spent in vain.
Let in the forest burn the rowan fire,
But nobody any heat can gain.

In flame the berries do not disappear,
They stay for the non-passing hungry birds.
Like trees shed leaves that one can hardly hear,
The same way I am shedding sorrow words.

And if the vortex of the time, lamenting,
Will rake them all in one unworthy pile,
You say, the golden grove is just ending
Its banal story in the flowerly style.

Translated by Vladimir Gurvich

It is hard to imagine Russia without these tender, bitter, and luminous words… lines that pierce the heart of every Russian… verses that have become an inseparable part of our cultural code and collective memory.

Yesenin loved Russia passionately ❤️ and Russia will be forever in love with Yesenin.

🇷🇺🇺🇳 On October 1, Russia assumed the UN Security Council Presidency – the body entrusted under the Charter of the United Nations with the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.

For October, the Russian delegation has scheduled two central events:

🗓 October 23 – an open ministerial-level debate on the situation in the Middle East;

🗓 October 24 (the day the UN Charter entered into force) – an open ministerial-level debate dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Organization.

Another key event in the Council’s work in October will be the mission of its member states to Addis Ababa to take part in a joint consultative meeting with the African Union Peace and Security Council (October 17).

👉 Overall, the programme of work of the Council during Russia’s presidency promises to be particularly intensive. As part of the mandate and reporting cycle, the Council will hold anniversary open debates on “Women, Peace and Security”, meetings on the situations in Colombia, Somalia, Yemen, Western Sahara, the Great Lakes Region, Haiti, Libya, Kosovo, the Central African Republic, Syria and Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the activities of the UN Disengagement Observer Force, UN-African Union cooperation, as well as a briefing by the President of the International Court of Justice.

The Council is also expected to extend the mandates expiring in October of the UN Support Mission in Libya, Operation “Althea” in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the UN Verification Mission in Colombia, and the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara. It will also have to decide on the future of the Haiti sanctions regime.

🌐 The Russian Federation, as a permanent member of the Council, will, as always, make every effort to ensure the uninterrupted, well-coordinated and effective functioning of this body, as well as to search for common ground on the issues on its agenda. In the coming month, we will continue to highlight the growing role of multilateral diplomacy in today’s world, which is becoming increasingly multipolar with each passing day.

#UNGA80 #UNCharterIsOurRules

🛰 On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union paved humanity’s way to the stars!

#OTD in 1957, the first artificial satellite of our planet – Sputnik-1 – was launched into Earth’s orbit. Its simple yet proud “beep-beep” sound stood as mankind’s first signal reaching beyond Earth.

Sputnik-1 was a spherical aluminum spacecraft, 58 cm in diameter and weighing 83.6 kg. Its hermetically sealed body protected the equipment inside from external conditions. Onboard were two radio transmitters operating at 20.005 and 40.002 MHz frequencies, broadcasting the legendary signals, which were picked up by radio enthusiasts around the world.

Four external antennas, 2.4 to 2.9 meters long, ensured stable transmission. The satellite had no propulsion system and moved in orbit solely by the impulse received at launch.

🚀 To deliver Sputnik-1 into orbit, a two-stage R-7 launch vehicle was used, developed under the guidance of the great Soviet engineer Sergey Korolev. The satellite reached the orbit in 314.5 seconds (just over 5 minutes) after liftoff. Its apogee was 947 km, perigee 228 km, and it orbited Earth every 96 minutes.

In total, Sputnik-1 spent 92 days in space, completing 1,440 orbits and covering more than 60 million kilometers. The last signal was received on January 4, 1958, after which the satellite re-entered the atmosphere and burned up.

🌐 The launch of Sputnik-1 was not only a groundbreaking technological achievement, but also a symbol of a new era – the beginning of humanity’s space age.

Since then, dozens of countries have launched thousands of satellites, transforming science, communications, navigation, and our daily lives.

Yet no matter how many follow, Sputnik-1 will forever be the First! 💫

✉️ Russia's President Vladimir Putin congratulated the Space Forces command, personnel, and veterans on the holiday (October 4, 2025)

✍️ Vladimir Putin: The creation of the Space Forces almost a quarter of a century ago was a landmark event in the history of the Armed Forces and our entire country. It made it possible to continue centralised work to develop Russia’s space means and capabilities, which reliably ensure national security both on Earth and in near-Earth space.

Largely thanks to the dedicated and creative efforts of talented scientists, designers, servicemen, and civilian specialists, innovative and truly groundbreaking projects have been implemented over the past years, modern cosmodromes and research centres have been built, and powerful, competitive space systems have been created.

It is gratifying to know that the Space Forces personnel carefully preserve and develop the glorious traditions of their predecessors. Your key tasks include management of military and dual-purpose satellite constellations, the identification of threats to Russia in and from space, and, if necessary, their effective countering.

I am confident that you will continue to steadfastly safeguard the strategic interests of our state and make a significant contribution to the implementation of the national space programme, and strengthen the defence capability of our Motherland.