President Prabowo Plans to Send Indonesians to Russia to Train as Cosmonauts
President Prabowo Subianto is set to send Indonesian citizens (WNI) to Russia to participate in the cosmonaut programme.
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Sugiono, explained that this is one of the outcomes of cooperation between Indonesia and Russia in the space sector.
“The President also mentioned the possibility for Indonesia to send selected and top individuals to join Russia’s cosmonaut programme,” said Sugiono during a press conference at the Office of the Presidential Staff in Central Jakarta on Wednesday, 22 April 2026.
According to Sugiono, sending Indonesians for cosmonaut training in Russia is an indicator that a country is advanced in technology.
“Because this is a parameter that a country has superiority in the technology sector, and can send crew or equipment to orbit,” he stated.
It is known that Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin Palace in Moscow on Monday, 13 April 2026.
Putin stated that President Prabowo’s visit holds significant importance in strengthening the strategic relations between the two countries amid the current global dynamics.
“We see that Your Excellency’s visit has very great and important meaning, especially in the current situation and developments in the world, as well as in terms of enhancing bilateral cooperation, particularly in the economic field,” said Putin.
President Putin conveyed that relations between Indonesia and Russia continue to develop consistently and have increasingly strong substance. Especially after the agreement on the strategic partnership declaration between Indonesia and Russia last year in 2025.
“I am very pleased that we are implementing steps that give substantial meaning and content to the relations between our two countries,” he said.
Furthermore, President Putin highlighted the development of economic and trade cooperation as one of the main pillars of bilateral relations between the two countries.
According to him, the trade value between Indonesia and Russia has experienced a significant increase of 12 per cent.
“At the beginning of this year, we witnessed a slight slowdown in bilateral trade, but we have various ways to increase it. We attach great importance to the joint intergovernmental commission, and we hope that in today’s meeting, Your Excellency, we will have the opportunity to find various solutions to continue enhancing the partnership between our two countries,” he continued.