Russians set record for longest stay on space station

Russians Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub aboard the ISS
Russians Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub are scheduled to return to earth on Monday. -AP

Two Russians have set a record for the longest continuous stay on the International Space Station, according to Russia's space agency.

Roscosmos said Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub broke the former record of 370 days, 21 hours and 22 minutes, which was set in September 2023 by Russians Sergei Prokopiev and Dmitry Petelin and American Francisco Rubio. 

Chub and Kononenko will add more days to their total before their scheduled return to earth on Monday. 

The 59-year-old Kononenko holds other space duration records, including the most cumulative time in space - 1110 days during the course of five missions by the time he lands in Kazakhstan next week. 

Two American astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, have inadvertently been aboard the space station for much of the Russians' record-setting stay. 

Williams and Wilmore expected to be on the ISS for only eight days when they blasted off in June, but their problem-plagued Boeing Starliner capsule was sent back without them. 

They are set to return in February.