Boris Volynov Status: Retired 12/18/1934 – Nationality: Russian Type: Government Agency: Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS) Boris Valentinovich Volynov (Russian: Бори́с Валенти́нович Волы́нов; born 18 December 1934) is a Soviet cosmonaut who flew two space missions of the Soyuz programme: Soyuz 5, and Soyuz 21. He was the first Jewish cosmonaut to enter space, preceding Judith Resnik in the United States.