Last Friday, a new Russian crew of cosmonauts arrived at the International Space Station, which is still securely in orbit despite warnings from Russian Space Agency Director Dmitry Rogozin. Many people were bewildered, amazed, and even hopeful after seeing the first photographs from orbit. The three cosmonauts were dressed in yellow and blue outfits rather than the normal blue suits. The color pattern is identical to the Ukrainian flag, which prompted many all over the internet to declare that the cosmonauts were sending signals of support to Ukraine, which Russia has been invading for about a month. Others, though, were skeptical that this was a message.
Or, if it was, it was most likely not in favor of Ukraine. When it comes to space flight, everything is double-checked. Even if cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveyev, and Sergey Korsakov had desired to make a gesture, they were unlikely to be able to do so. They would have been apprehended sooner or later. The yellow and blue uniforms have no special significance, according to Roscosmos, and their hue has nothing to do with Russia’s brutal battle in Ukraine.
According to Reuters, Roscosmos’ press staff commented on its Telegram channel, “Sometimes yellow is just yellow.” “The new crew’s flight suits are designed in the colors of the Bauman Moscow State Technical University insignia, from which all three cosmonauts graduated… It’s insane to see the Ukrainian flag everywhere and in everything.”
Rogozin also verified this explanation in a tweet. Artemyev, on the other hand, first provided a different response. According to the Guardian, he claimed that they picked yellow cloth because they had a lot of it in store. The Russian invasion and annexation of Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula, in 2014 is commemorated on March 18, the day the cosmonauts landed at the ISS.
Some have speculated that the Russian government anticipated to have conquered Ukraine by this moment, and that the blue and yellow outfit with the Russian flag on top was a statement of triumph. Whatever the aims and message, space has become an important medium for disseminating information about the Russian invasion. In the beginning, NASA and the European Space Agency sought to seem impartial, but Rogozin, enraged by the sanctions imposed on Russia, threatened the ISS’s demise and suggested that Russia would let it crash to Earth.
