Russian Mi-8 helicopters from the cities around the landing site arrived early to meet the Soyuz.
American astronaut Joe Akaba and two Russians, Gennady Padalka and Sergey Revin, arrived from the International Space Station.
The Soyuz separated from the MSS somewhere over Nairobi, Kenya, about three hours before its descent to Earth.
The three astronauts were immediately taken over by doctors to be examined. On the website of the American agency NASA, it was announced that the three crew members are fine and are now adapting after a long stay in weightless space.
Astronauts are now transported only by Soyuz to the International Space Station, which orbits up to 410 kilometers from Earth, since the US grounded its shuttle fleet in 2011.
Three astronauts remained on the space station - American Sunny Williams, Japanese Aki Hoshide and Russian Yuri Malenchenko. They will be joined by a new three-member team on October 17 - American Kevin Ford and Russians Oleg Novitsky and Yevgeny Tarlkin.
Gallery
See more:
Download the app and follow the news
FOLLOW US ON