Russia celebrates 60th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s historic space flight

Workers clean the statue of Yuri Gagarin in Moscow, Russia (AP)

Russians are commemorating the achievements of Yuri Gagarin, the cosmonaut who became the first person in space 60 years ago.

Gagarin’s 108-minute mission on April 12 1961 took the Space Age to a new level and marked a historic achievement for the then-Soviet Union, which beat the United States in a tight race to launch a man beyond the Earth’s atmosphere.