Russian Space Chiefs Finally Admit US Landed on Moon

Russia has finally admitted that American astronauts did, in fact, land on the moon.

Head of Russian Space Corporation Roscosmos, Yuri Borisov, accepted the truth of the U.S. putting a man on the moon in an address to the State Duma, Intellinews has reported.

"As for whether the Americans were on the Moon or not, I have one fact to share," he was reported to have said.

"I was personally interested in this matter. At one time, they provided us with a portion of the lunar soil that the astronauts brought back during their expedition."

Previous polling revealed that just under half of Russians believe America's 1969 moon landing was a government hoax.

However, Borisov said that tests performed on the samples by the Russian Academy of Scientists confirmed their authenticity.

Neil Armstrong became the first person to step onto the Moon's surface in July 1969, famously declaring, "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind."

Joined by Buzz Aldrin, the two astronauts spent approximately two hours exploring the lunar landscape at Tranquility Base, collecting 47.5 pounds of lunar material to bring back to Earth while Michael Collins orbited the Moon in the Command Module Columbia.

Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin may have been the first human being to be sent into space, but many Russians remain skeptical on whether the U.S. successfully landed men on the moon in 1969.

A receet survey of 1,600 Russian adults found that just 31 percent accepted that U.S. astronauts landed on the moon in the last century.

The conspiracy that the moon landing was faked in also prevalent in the United States, though to a lesser degree.

A 2019 Statista study found that 11 percent of Americans believed the landing was a hoax.

Five percent "strongly believed" the conspiracy, with a further six percent who "somewhat believed" it.

Another 11 percent answered that they "neither believed nor disbelieved" in the theory, but 61 percent said they "strongly disbelieved" the conspiracy.

A separate poll conducted by Gallup 30 years after the 1969 moon landing also found that six percent of Americans believed the event was either staged or fake, but the vast majority (89 percent) were confident the landing did, in fact, take place.

In related news, China's mission to the far side of the moon successfully returned last month after spending two months in space.

The Chang'e-6 lunar module arrived back on earth with the first-ever samples from the "dark side" of the moon.

Do you have a story we should be covering? Do you have any questions about moon landings or international politics? Do you have any question about conspiracy theories? Contact LiveNews@newsweek.com