Were cosmonauts in yellow sending a brave message of support to Ukraine?
THREE Russian cosmonauts boarded the International Space Station (ISS) in flight suits made in the yellow and blue of the Ukrainian flag, sparking speculation of a daring statement on the war 250 miles below them.
Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov had blasted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan yesterday for a six-month stay aboard the orbiting laboratory, joining the crew of two fellow Russians, four Americans and one German.
The trio emerged from their Soyuz capsule after docking with the ISS wearing bright yellow jumpsuits with blue stripes, instead of the standard-issue blue uniform.
The men, the first arrivals at the Space Station since the start of the war in Ukraine, were warmly welcomed on board, hugging and greeting their fellow crew.
The surprise switch from normal uniforms drew gasps from Nasa officials and veteran astronauts. ‘Wow. Just wow. Well done,’ tweeted Terry Virts, a former US commander of the ISS.
Asked about the suits in a live-streamed press conference, mission commander Mr Artemyev said: ‘It became our turn to pick a
‘The surprise switch drew gasps from the fellow astronauts’
colour. We had accumulated a lot of yellow material so we needed to use it.’
Russia’s space agency Roscosmos rubbished suggestions of a protest. ‘Sometimes yellow is just yellow,’ it wrote on its Telegram channel.
‘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.’
Since the invasion of Ukraine, people around the world have expressed support for its embattled citizens by using the colours of its national flag to show their solidarity.
The three Russians are trading places with Pyotr Dubrov and Anton Shkaplerov, who are due to return to Earth on a Soyuz at the end of the month, along with the American astronaut Mark Vande Hei, who set a record last Tuesday by spending 355 days in orbit, the longest stretch of time anyone has spent in space.
Nasa recently announced that it was satisfied by the Russian space agency’s commitment to Mr Vande Hei’s safety, despite veiled suggestions by Dmitry Rogozin, its outspoken chief, that they may leave him behind on the ISS.
Rogozin, head of the Russian State Space Corporation, had also warned that the US would have to use ‘broomsticks’ to fly into space after Russia said it would stop supplying rocket engines to US companies.
In response, Nasa administrator Bill Nelson said: ‘That’s just Dmitry Rogozin. He spouts off every now and then.’
Meanwhile, Ukrainian high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh has won gold at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade after being forced to make a threeday journey there overland from her war-torn country.
The 20-year-old defied expectations, clearing a world-leading 2.02m (6.6ft) in the Serbian capital.
‘I want to show Ukrainian people are strong people,’ she told Athletics Weekly after her victory. ‘They never give up. Our military protect our country at home and today I protect my country on the track.’
When the war broke out, Mahuchikh was forced to flee to the countryside from her home in Dnipro.
She hid in a cellar before making the 1,200-mile trip to the competition with little more than the clothes on her back.
Mahuchikh, who ran a victory lap with Ukraine’s flag draped across her shoulders, said: ‘I even doubted that I could jump at all, but my coach said I must go out and perform with the shape and fitness I had before the start of the Russian invasion.’