(LifeSiteNews) – The first man to go to into space, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, had his name stripped from a space foundation’s fundraiser due to the “current world events” of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
As first reported by Futurism on March 16, the U.S.-based non-profit Space Foundation’s annual “Yuri’s night” at the Space Symposium event was name changed to “A Celebration of Space: Discover What’s Next.”
The announcement was made in a now-deleted note archived on the web which stated, “In light of current world events, the 2022 Space Foundation Yuri’s Night is renamed ‘A Celebration of Space: Discover What’s Next.’ The focus of this fundraising event remains the same – to celebrate human achievements in space while inspiring the next generation to reach for the stars.”
The “Discover What’s Next” event takes place on April 3 and is listed on the Space Foundation’s website, however the note regarding Gagarin has been removed.
Gagarin’s space voyage was made in 1961 at a time when Russia, along with the Ukraine and many other nations, made up the former communist USSR. Gagarin died in 1968.
Wrote Futurism regarding the renaming of the “Yuri’s Night” event: “It’s a rather dubious show of solidarity with the Ukrainian people, especially considering that Gagarin worked for the USSR, a completely different country from modern day Russia.”
“And the icing on the cake? Ukraine actually appears to be rather fond of Gagarin and his monumental achievement,” wrote Futurism.
“Erasing the name of the first person to ever fly to space while supposedly celebrating ‘human achievements in space’ is bad enough … But doing so in line with the milquetoast trend of disavowing all things Russian, including famous composers and food products, amid the country’s current invasion of Ukraine is just outrageous.”
The war between Russia and Ukraine has caused a major humanitarian crisis, with more than 3.5 million people forced to flee Ukraine.
The conflict has also caused anti-Russian sentiment to be on the rise worldwide, however.
Just recently, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (OSM) cancelled the contracts of young Russian piano prodigy Alexander Malofeev.
Russian Formula One (F1) race-car driver Nikita Mazepin, who was fired from his U.S.-based team due to the Russia-Ukraine war, says he will start a fund to help athletes who have been canceled because of the “passports they held.”