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Russian Cosmonaut on Forbes List of World's Greatest Leaders

Official crew photograph of Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko. Federal Space Agency / NASA

Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko was named among the ?€?world's greatest leaders?€? by Forbes magazine on Thursday.

Kornienko ranked 22 out of 50 global leaders, sharing the spot with U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly.

The duo reprised the ?€?handshake in space,?€? a famous act of diplomacy between U.S. astronaut Thomas Stafford and Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov during the Cold War, elevating ?€?that goodwill gesture?€? into ?€?an opus of statesmanship,?€? Forbes said in its report.

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