This statement sent shockwaves through the Western world, heightening the tension between the Soviet Union and the US who were in the thick of the Cold War.
A soft landing means a spacecraft has a slow, controlled descent and spacecraft from only three countries the United States, China and the former Soviet Union have ever done this.
Since the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite in 1957, people have sent a lot of stuff into orbit and beyond and they've left behind a lot of junk in the process.
During the Cold War, a period of intense rivalry after World War II between the Soviet Union and it's allies and the United States and it's allies, both major superpowers invested in spy satellites.