Keeping up a longstanding tradition, the international law firm BEITEN BURKHARDT held the "We are the Cosmos" charity event for children from the Kolomna Municipal Social Rehabilitation Centre.

This year we set out with the children on a fascinating two-day journey through the vast expanse of the universe. The first day, the children were visited by employees of the Museum of Cosmonautics, one of the largest academic and historical museums in the world. They told the history of space exploration, from our canine space team, through the first space flight of Yuri Gagarin, and on to life on a space station. The children solved picture-puzzles and crosswords and answered questions. To wrap up the day, each child made his or her own planet, then brought all the small planets together to create their own universe under the slogan: "We are all different, but we are united!"

The second day, the children took part in an art master class called "My Planet" and were introduced to the art of Alexei Leonov, the first Soviet cosmonaut to perform a spacewalk. In addition to his achievements in space, Leonov is also the author of numerous paintings, including some space scenes. Using their new skills, the children drew their cosmos the way they see it. They discovered how to use various drawing and paint-mixing techniques, named their paintings, and told one another about their unique planets.

For the Moscow office of BEITEN BURKHARDT, this event was a precious experience, giving us the chance to see the universe through the eyes of children in addition to our day-to-day legal work.

BEITEN BURKHARDT has been supporting the Kolomna Social Rehabilitation Centre for Minors for more than 10 years. The Kolomna Centre helps orphans and children from low-income, single-parent, and disadvantaged families that have found themselves in difficult circumstances. Children from the age of 3 to 17 without parental support live at the Centre on a permanent basis, while children from disadvantaged families study here during the day. Over the past 20 years, the Centre has helped more than 6,000 children and adolescents to believe in themselves, become part of society, develop their talents, and restore their self-confidence. Contact information for those wishing to donate to the Centre: 97A Lenina St., Kolomna, tel.: 8 (496) 612 31 64, https://deti-pomosch.ru/.