The Russian space agency had previously halted its spacewalk program for precautionary equipment checks.

Cosmonaut Alexsandr Gorbunov operated the ISS's robotic arm from inside the station during the spacewalk.

Due to time limitations, the cosmonauts were unable to relocate an exterior control panel for the European robotic arm, which was not critical for current operations.

Ovchinin humorously described the disposal of older experiments, saying, 'Here it goes, it is floating away,' as he pushed the bundle away from the ISS.

The 2024 spacewalks included a total of five, with this being the second for Ovchinin and the first for Vagner.

This year has seen fewer spacewalks compared to previous years, largely due to a suspension in June 2024 following a water leak incident in a NASA astronaut's spacesuit.

The spacewalk took place outside the Poisk module, which serves as a docking point for Soyuz crew ships and cargo vehicles.

On December 19, 2024, Russian cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner conducted a spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS), beginning at 10:10 ET.

This spacewalk marked the third and final one for the ISS in 2024.

During the nearly seven-hour operation, Ovchinin and Vagner installed an 'All-Sky Monitor,' an X-ray spectrometer designed to observe celestial X-ray sources over a three-year period.

In addition to the installation, they replaced four electrical connector patch panels on the Zvezda service module and collected experiments for further analysis on Earth.

Both cosmonauts have been aboard the ISS since September 11, 2024, as part of the Soyuz MS-26 mission, alongside NASA astronaut Don Pettit.