Colin Sheridan: Katy Perry went to space — but this cosmonaut’s silence said more than words

An Irish peacekeeper discovers his silent Russian patrol partner was once a cosmonaut — after weeks of silence

Pop star Katy Perry left the earth's atmosphere for approximately four minutes, and when she returned, she kissed the ground like Nelson Mandela coming out of Robben Island after 27 years' incarceration. Pictures: Blue Origin/YouTube/PA Wire

Sat, 19 Apr, 2025 - 00:00

Colin Sheridan is a writer and columnist. A former officer in the Irish Defence Forces he has extensive deployment experience as a peacekeeper with the United Nations, having lived and worked in the former Yugoslavia, West Africa, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Palestine.

Some years ago, towards the end of my decorated military career, I found myself on a patrol with a Russian officer, a rather monosyllabic chap named Evgeniy. We were stationed together along the Blue Line in South Lebanon, and our job was to drive around in a white UN Land Rover and observe and report any violations on either side of this imaginary boundary between Israel and Lebanon.

The threat level at the time could be generously described as “calm, but tense,” which basically meant we could go about our business with little fear of a Merkava tank firing at us (though, you never know) or being shaken down by a local Hezbollah rep.