According to the BBC, the Russian Space Agency denied claims that its three astronauts wore spacesuits the same color as the Ukrainian flag as a potential statement against the ongoing war. The three astronauts, Denis Mateev, Oleg Artemyev and Sergey Korsakov, wore bright yellow and blue suits as they boarded the International Space Station on Friday.
The Russian Space Agency quickly dismissed any reports that astronauts wore those colors in solidarity with Ukraine. The agency wrote in an article on Telegram: "Sometimes yellow is just yellow. The design of the uniform was agreed before the current events occurred. The post notes that yellow and blue are the same colors in the emblem of all three astronauts' alma mater, Moscow State Bauman Technical University. In another post on Telegram, the Russian Space Agency shared a picture of Artemyev wearing a yellow spacesuit when it first flew in 2014.
Russian Space Agency Director Dmitry Rogozin similarly added that the trio represented their university, not Ukraine. He wrote on Twitter: "Under no circumstances will we force the astronaut graduates of Bowman Technical University not to wear clothes in the same color as their alma mater's logo." ”
The astronauts did not explain any meaning behind the colors in their live news conference after arrival. Artemyev sidestepped a question about the color of their clothes, jokingly saying, "Now it's our turn to pick the colors." The truth is, we've accumulated a lot of yellow cloth, so we need to use it. ”
All three astronauts arrived at the International Space Station aboard a Soyuz MS-21 spacecraft launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Despite tensions between Russia and other countries, they were warmly received by their German, Russian, and American colleagues aboard the International Space Station.
One of these crew members was American astronaut Mark Vande Hei. A Russian spacecraft will bring him back to Earth on March 30 with astronauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anton Shkaplerov. Russia has said it will bring Vande Hei back as planned, although reports indicate that this is not the case.