At least three countries are in the race for lunar exploration - USA, China, and Russia. China plans to build a base on the moon by 2028, the landing of Americans on the moon is planned for 2025 as part of the Artemis 3 mission, while Russians will be able to fly to the moon later - in the perspective of 7-10 years. This was stated by the leading researcher of the Institute of Space Research (IKI) RAS Natan Eismont

"If everything continues at about the same pace as now, then I will take the liberty of saying that Russian cosmonauts will be on the moon in seven to ten years", he said.

Natan Eismont also noted that in 12 years, cosmonauts from different countries will be simultaneously present on the moon. "Who knows, maybe by that time there will be enough cosmonauts on the moon to organize a friendly football match between the old and new world", he said.

For now, the closest Russian lunar project is the automatic landing module "Luna-25", its dispatch to the earth's natural satellite is expected this summer.