An American astronaut called Rogozin “Dimon” in Russian because of the monkeys

US astronaut Kelly criticized Rogozin amid a racist scandal on the social network

The former head of Roscosmos, later the leader of the “Tsar’s Wolves” of Donbass and, more recently, the Russian senator from Zaporozhye, Dmitry Rogozin, found himself at the center of a racist scandal. The reason was the appearance on his account on the social network X (formerly Twitter) of a post about US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

The post contained two photographs: a monkey being bullied by people, and a portrait of the head of the Pentagon. “Before his illness, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was very fond of taking pictures with pygmies,” Rogozin wrote under the photos.

The post caused a great resonance and provoked accusations of racism against Rogozin. Among those who criticized the Russian senator was American astronaut Scott Kelly, who previously flew on Soyuz spacecraft. He wrote an angry rebuke in Russian, ridiculing Rogozin’s career path and addressing him derogatorily as “Dimon.” Kelly said that Austin is “a real general with combat experience” and in harsh terms doubted the military merits of the former head of Roscosmos. He also called Rogozin a “Nazi” and a “racist.”

Soon the scandalous post disappeared from Rogozin’s account, and he himself stated that he does not have any Twitter – let us remember, not accessible in Russia without a VPN since 2022. According to Rogozin, he only has a page on Vkontakte and a channel on Telegram, and “everything else is bots.” Not everyone on social networks believed Rogozin; users reminded that his account on X (Twitter) was verified, that is, his identity was confirmed, and the official account of the Russian space agency repeatedly linked to him.

Rogozin did not comment on doubts about the reliability of his words about “bots” and then made another post on the Russian social network, insisting on comparing people with animals. He said that not only Austin, but also “(US President Joe) Biden, (German Chancellor Olaf) Scholz and other enemies of Russia are dirty banderlog monkeys” who “belong on the gallows.”

As of February 26, all posts in Rogozin’s X account are available again, a new one has appeared with the text: “Monkeys should be called monkeys” – and a video of jumping primates of various species and rallies with Ukrainian flags.