Is Venus a 'Russian planet'? The country's space agency chief seems to think so!

Right after scientists discovered the possibility of life on the planet Venus, the Russian space agency has claimed the country’s ownership on the planet.

Russian space organisation Roscosmos intends to explore Venus independently. 

The head of Russia's space corporation Dmitry Rogozin even announced initiating a national project to study the planet.

Also read: Potential sign of alien life detected on inhospitable Venus

According to the space agency, the first missions to explore the Earth's distant neighbour were carried out by the Soviet Union. Does this give them an upper hand to claim the planet as their own?

Roscosmos in a statement said that the enormous gap between the Soviet Union and its competitors in the investigation of Venus contributed to the fact that the United States called Venus a Soviet planet.

The new project would be in addition to the "venera-d" project that the Russians are currently working on with the US space agency NASA.

Also read: Not a dormant planet: Venus is home to 37 recently active volcanic structures!

Earlier it was said that Russia is planning to cut down their international partners on Venera-d project to limit international interference.

But later, Russian media reported that the space agency would launch a separate project to explore Venus.

Scientists have recently discovered that the planet Venus contains phosphine gas that hints towards a possible existence of micro organisms on the planet.