The former head of the Russian space agency, senator from the Zaporizhzhia region, Dmytro Rogozin, compared US Defense Minister Lloyd Austin to a monkey on the social network H. American astronaut Scott Kelly immediately accused the Russian politician.

Rogozin posted two photos on X: one showing Italian explorer Attilio Gatti with two hired pygmies and a gorilla in the Congo, and the other showing Austin with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.

“US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, before he got sick, liked to take pictures with pygmies,” Rogozin wrote next to the two pictures.

The post drew several critics from netizens, and the message was called racist.

Rogozin received a sharp response from American astronaut Scott Kelly, brother of Democratic Senator Mark Kelly.

“Demon, considering you’re actually a Nazi, your disgusting racism isn’t particularly surprising. You are just jealous of a real general with real combat experience because you are a fake soldier with fake medals. When will you return to Ukraine to play a soldier again? Don’t forget to bring bullet proof diapers,” wrote Scott Kelly on X.

Former head of the Russian space agency “Roscosmos” and nationalist activist Dmytro Rogozin was appointed senator of the Zaporizhia region in September 2023.

Fired as head of Roscosmos in July 2022, Rogozin has since led a group of military advisers helping pro-Russian separatist forces in Ukraine. In December 2022, he was wounded during the Ukrainian attack on the city of Donetsk.

Rogozin is also a critic of the West, known for his insults against Russia’s enemies.

Read also:

• VIDEO “Heroic” images of Dmytro Rogozin at the front, dressed almost from head to toe in NATO equipment
• Rogozin sent Macron a fragment of the shell with which he was allegedly wounded: “He will not avoid responsibility for France’s war crimes”