A Russian astronaut breaks the record for staying outside Earth

The Russian Space Agency said that Russian astronaut Oleg Kononenko set a world record on Sunday for the longest time spent by an astronaut outside Earth, surpassing his compatriot Gennady Badka, who recorded more than 878 days.

The Russian space agency Roscosmos said that Kononenko broke the record at 08:30 GMT.

It is expected to record a total of 1,000 days in space on June 5, and 1,110 days by the end of September.

"I travel to space to do my favorite thing, not to set records," Kononenko told TASS in an interview from the International Space Station, about 423 kilometers from Earth.

He added: "I am proud of all my achievements, but I am even more proud that the record for the total amount of time a human has spent in space is still held by a Russian astronaut," according to Reuters.

Kononenko's current flight to the International Space Station was launched last year aboard the Soyuz MS24 spacecraft.

The International Space Station is one of the few international projects that still witnesses cooperation between the United States and Russia.

 In December, Roscosmos announced the extension of the program of joint flights to the International Space Station with NASA until 2025.

Relations have collapsed in other areas between the two countries since the start of the special Russian military operation in Ukraine nearly two years ago, to which Washington responded by sending weapons to Kiev and imposing successive sanctions packages on Moscow.