Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov congratulated Oleg Kononenko, Head of the Yury Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center and Hero of Turkmenistan and Russia, on his birthday, the State News Agency of Turkmenistan reported.

Oleg Kononenko turned 62 on June 21. He was born in 1964 in Charjew (now Turkmenabat).

"The President of Turkmenistan expressed his heartfelt wishes for Oleg Kononenko's good health, long life, happiness, family well-being, and great success in his work on space exploration," the statement read.

From 2008 to 2024, Kononenko completed five space flights, totaling 1111 days. He holds the all-time record for time spent in orbit and is the only person to have flown in space for over thousand days. He is currently preparing for his sixth flight.