Two Heroes And Best Friends United Forever And Betrayed By Their Ill-fated Destinies: Yuri Gagarin And

Two heroes and best friends united forever and betrayed by their ill-fated destinies: Yuri Gagarin and Vladimir Komarov.

Vladimir Komarov's death seems to have been almost scripted. Yuri Gagarin said as much in an interview he gave to Pravda weeks after the crash. He sharply criticized the officials who had let his friend fly.

Komarov was honored with a state funeral. Only a chipped heel bone survived the crash. Three weeks later, Yuri Gagarin went to see his KGB friend. He wanted to talk about what happened. As the book describes it:

Gagarin met Russayev at his family apartment but refused to speak in any of the rooms because he was worried about bugs. The lifts and lobby areas were not safe, either, so the two men trudged up and down the apartment block's echoing stairwells.

The Gagarin of 1967 was very different from the carefree young man of 1961. Komarov's death had placed an enormous burden of guilt on his shoulders. At one point Gagarin said, "I must go to see the main man [Brezhnev] personally." He was profoundly depressed that he hadn't been able to persuade Brezhnev to cancel Komarov's launch.

Shortly before Gagarin left, the intensity of his anger became obvious. "I'll get through to him [Brezhnev] somehow, and if I ever find out he knew about the situation and still let everything happen, then I know exactly what I'm going to do." Russayev goes on, "I don't know exactly what Yuri had in mind. Maybe a good punch in the face." Russayev warned Gagarin to be cautious as far as Brezhnev was concerned. "I told him, 'Talk to me first before you do anything. I warn you, be very careful.' "

The authors then mention a rumor, never proven (and to my mind, most unlikely), that one day Gagarin did have a moment with Brezhnev and he threw a drink in Brezhnev's face.

Guess what!I hope Yuri has really done that to that idiot.Yuri was right.And omg,I wish I could tell him that he was not to blame for anything that happened to his friend.Nothing worse than carrying the burden of feeling guilty for a best friend's death.I do really understand sweet Yuri's pain.It's clear that he might have gained some powerful enemies,after criticizing his superiors.Therefore,the reason for me to back up the theory that defends Yuri being murdered.Some people just cannot handle the truth and failure.It's very possible that they could have seen Yuri as dangerous...Poor angel,was no threat to anybody,he just wasn't afraid of standing for what was right.And probably that's what got him killed. :(