Heroes of the Fatherland Day, a holiday that symbolizes deeds of those who demonstrated valour, courage, and bravery in their service to our Motherland, is celebrated in Russia on December 9th. South Ural State University is proud of its students and alumni who were awarded the most honourable title of the Hero of Russia.
Albert Zainullin is a student of the State and Municipal Administration programme of the SUSU Institute of Open and Distance Education. He enrolled in the university in the summer of 2024.
Albert is originally from the Turgai Region of Kazakhstan and now lives in the Vitaminniy settlement of the Sosnovskiy District. In June 2024, he was awarded the Gold Star by the President Vladimir Putin. As a soldier participating in the Special Military Operation, he received this award for taking with his platoon a large stronghold, which had been under siege for a long time. For his courage and heroism, Albert Zainullin was also awarded the Battle Honours Medal by the Ministry of Defence. At the moment, Albert is on the front lines again, defending his homeland.
Albert became especially interested in studying having had a conversation with the Governor of the Chelyabinsk Region Alexey Texler. And the curators of the Defenders of the Fatherland foundation drew attention to the SUSU educational programmes.
Dmitry Petelin is an alumnus of the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering of South Ural State University, with a major in Aircraft and Helicopter Engineering.
Dmitry is a Russian test research cosmonaut. He spent 371 days in orbit, which is considered the longest mission under the ISS program.
“This was the first time right after the rocket was launched, when the fairing came off and a view of our home planet opened up through the porthole of the spacecraft. But it was only a few hours later, already at the station, that I managed to see our Earth in all its glory: there I saw slowly floating landscapes, clouds and oceans – a view that I had craved to see for many years of training in the Cosmonaut Corps!” says Dmitriy, recalling his feelings when he first saw the Earth through the porthole.
On May 30th, during a meeting with the President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry was awarded the title of Hero of Russia and the honorary title of Pilot-Cosmonaut of the Russian Federation. It is interesting that Dmitry had learned about the awarding of this high title on Cosmonautics Day within the walls of his university, during the traditional meeting with students of the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering of the SUSU Institute of Engineering and Technology.