The Russian State Archive of Scientific and Technical Documentation, RGANTD, has released for the first time a collection of photographs showing cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin at the crash site, captured moments after the disaster on March 27, 1968. These images offer a rare, on-scene glimpse into a pivotal event in space history and human spaceflight’s early era. The archive notes on social channels that this is their initial posting of photos from the crash scene, marking a new chapter in preserving memory of the incident and its witnesses.
The released set includes three photographs depicting the remains of the fuselage, dated March 28, the day following the crash. This newly accessible material adds a visual layer to the historical record and provides researchers and enthusiasts with direct reference to the event as it unfolded on the ground [RGANTD archive].
Yuri Gagarin, together with frontline pilot Vladimir Seregin, perished when their MiG-15 UTI training aircraft went down near a rural area. The tragedy occurred after takeoff from Chkalovsky Airport near Moscow; the wreckage lay near the village of Novoselovo close to Kirzhach in the Vladimir region. The exact sequence of factors that led to the crash remains unresolved despite multiple investigations and theories over the years [historical records].
Gagarin, born March 9, 1934 in Klushino, part of the Tver region, is remembered for achieving humanity’s first human spaceflight on April 12, 1961. In recent years there have been official statements acknowledging his stature as the world’s first cosmonaut, while noting that no large-scale commemorations were planned for his birthday in certain years, reflecting the ongoing and nuanced memory of the event within official circles [state archives summaries].
Previous disclosures have included Roscosmos’s declassification of Yuri Gagarin’s personal file, a development that has sparked renewed interest in the personal and professional record of the first cosmonaut and his era. The newly released photographs complement these archival efforts, offering visual context to a moment that shaped space history and the broader story of Soviet aviation [archival releases].