Three Russian cosmonauts arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) wearing yellow and blue flight suits, which is the colour of Ukraine. They were the first new arrivals since Russia invaded Ukraine.

Video from the NASA live feed shows the pod is docked at the space station, and the cosmonauts are seen in the yellow suits. Oleg Artemyev, one of the cosmonauts, was asked about the significance behind the suit when they were finally allowed to communicate with their family back on earth. 

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He said each crew chooses their flight suit so they’re not all the same, and further added “It became our turn to pick a colour. But in fact, we had accumulated a lot of yellow material so we needed to use it. So that’s why we had to wear yellow”, as per New York Post. 

Notably, tensions between the West and Russia over the Ukraine invasion has spilt over to space as well. The Russian space director recently threatened that Moscow might not correct the course of the ISS, causing it to crash into earth, Taiwan News reported. 

The war waged by Russian President Vladimir Putin has drawn condemnation from many. To control the response in their home country, the Russian government passed a law allowing jail for anyone spreading what Moscow deems to be fake news about its troops. With Russia’s strong censorship on one side and global pressure on the other, many have raised voices but not directly. 

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Queen Elizabeth II, who cannot directly comment on political matters, due to her royal status, also put up a subtle show of support for Ukraine. When meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the queen of England had a yellow and blue flower arrangement behind her, evoking the Ukrainian flag. It also surfaced that the Queen made a sizeable donation to help Ukrainians.