Russia has panned reports that some of their cosmonauts on board the International Space Station donned yellow and blue suits in order to show their solidarity with the people of Ukraine.
The three cosmonauts were seen wearing gear in the colours of the Ukrainian flag when arriving on the ISS earlier this week, prompting speculation that they might have chosen to do so as a form of dissent against the Russian invasion.
However, Russian authorities have since said this suggestion is a load of hogwash.
Cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev said the suits they wore had to be chosen six months before their arrival, as they must be individually sewn.
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He added that all three spacemen graduated from Moscow State Technical University and chose to wear the colours of their esteemed seat of learning.
In a statement on a Russian state Telegram channel, Artemyev said: 'There is no need to look for any hidden signs or symbols in our uniform. A colour is simply a colour. It is not in any way connected to Ukraine. Otherwise, we would have to recognise its rights to the yellow sun in the blue sky.
These days, even though we are in space, we are together with our president and our people.'
This was backed up by the head of Roscosmos – the Russian space agency – Dmitry Rogozin, who tweeted a picture of the university’s blue and gold coat of arms.
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After arriving at the station Artemyev then said there was a lot of yellow material knocking around in storage, claiming ‘that’s why we had to wear yellow’.
The Russian space agency has – like most other Russian enterprises – been the subject of sanctions, as the European Space Agency has suspended the ExoMars rover mission with Roscosmos after the invasion.
Still, it’s not as if they can sever all ties with them.
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NASA administrator Bill Nelson said: 'Despite all of that, up in space, we can have a cooperation with our Russian friends, our colleagues,
'The professional relationship between astronauts and cosmonauts, it hasn’t missed a beat. This is the cooperation we have going on in the civilian space programme.'
The US and Russia are the main two operators of the ISS, having manned it for 21 years.
Roscosmos recently confirmed that American astronaut Mark Vande Hei – who is currently onboard the station – will return to Earth on a Russian spaceship, as was the plan before the invasion.
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State news agency TASS said: 'American astronaut Mark Vande Hei will return to Earth on 30 March onboard the Russian Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft, together with Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov,
'Roscosmos has never given reason to doubt its reliability as a partner.'
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Topics: International Space Station, Russia, Space, Ukraine
Tom Wood