Roscosmos calls Venus 'Russian planet' with 'living hell' on it

The conditions on planet Venus are "living hell", the head of the Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, said amid reports from American and British scientists about the discovery of biomarkers on the second planet from the Sun.

According to Rogozin, the discovery of phosphines in the atmosphere of Venus does not serve as  direct evidence that can prove the existence of life there.

"Nevertheless, I want to confirm that Russia was the only one and the first one on Venus. Our spacecraft was there, it conducted research, and in general there is living hell on that planet," said the head of Roscosmos.

Rogozin also noted that Russia plans to resume exploring Venus in cooperation with the United States before 2030. The project is called Venus-D. In addition, Roscosmos does not rule out its own mission to Venus.

"We believe that Venus is still a Russian planet," Rogozin said.

Earlier, a group of astronomers led by the University of Cardiff in the UK and the University of Massachusetts in the United States published a study on the discovery of phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus. This is a poisonous gas that may indicate a sign of life on the planet.

On Earth, phosphine comes as a consequence of man-made activities. It is also produced by a number of anaerobic organisms - bacteria, fungi, algae, worms. Other sources of gas include meteorites, lightning, and volcanic eruptions.