A few of the many "first" of the Russian Space Industry:

First successful landing on Venus:
"Venera-7" – launch: October 17, 1970; landed on December 15, 1970.

First space station:
"Salyut" – April 19, 1971.

First docking of a spaceship to a space station:
"Soyuz-10" with "Salyut" – April 24, 1971.

First landing on Mars:
"Mars-3" – launch: March 28, 1971; lander, December 2, 1971.