Three Russian cosmonauts were seen boarding the International Space Station (ISS) wearing Ukrainian colours on 18 March 2022. People assumed this could be a potential stand against war but the Russian space agency has rejected these claims.
As reported by BBC News, the cosmonauts had a warm welcome from other Russian, German and American crew. The three men were wearing vibrant yellow spacesuits that had blue trimmings.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine the colours of the Ukrainian national flag have been worn around the world in support of the nation.
‘Sometimes yellow is just yellow,’ remarked the Roscosmos, the Russian space agency.
The three Russian cosmonauts Denis Matveyev, Oleg Artemyev and Sergey Korsakov, successfully docked after a three-hour flight that was launched in Kazakhstan from a Russian-owned base. Their standard uniform is plain blue.
The ISS is led by a ‘US-Russian partnership’ and despite high tensions between the two world powers, it has sustained itself for 20 years. Several European countries, as well as Canada and Japan, are also part of this joint project.
The moment that the men boarded the ISS was live-streamed by both Nasa and Roscosmos.
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‘It became our turn to pick a colour,’ said Oleg Artemyev in a press conference that was streamed live. He joked that ‘We had accumulated a lot of yellow material so we needed to use it, that’s why we had to wear yellow.’
The press service hosted by Roscosmos said that these reports by foreign media and bloggers were just a ‘funny invention’.
They continued, ‘The flight suits of the new crew are made in the colours of the emblem of the Bauman Moscow State Technical University, which all three cosmonauts graduated from… To see the Ukrainian flag everywhere and in everything is crazy.’
Dmitry Rogozin, the leader of Roscosmos strongly supports the invasion and said that the allegations that the Russian cosmonauts wore Ukraine colours came from Ukrainian nationalists.
Oleg Artemyev was later snapped wearing a suit that was clearly Russian. The men will be onboard the ISS for six months on a science mission.
BBC News states that the true intention of the Russian astronauts is unknown. The men themselves have said very little.
On board the space station, despite tensions on the ground, co-operation between the two powers is vital and the cosmonauts have to work together to ensure the ISS keeps running properly.
