Russian cosmonauts board the International Space Station decked out in Ukrainian colors
Fashion choice or subtle act of protest?
The International Space Station's newly arrived trio of Russian cosmonauts came aboard on Friday dressed in yellow flight suits with blue accents, echoing the color scheme of the Ukrainian flag. It's a notable look given that Commander Oleg Artemyev had been seen wearing a blue flight suit during the docking process.
No one specifically mentioned Ukraine, but the color choice is notable given that Artemyev, along with fellow cosmonauts Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov, are the first to arrive aboard the ISS since Russia invaded Ukraine in February. Artemyev explained after the boarding was complete that each crew chooses its own flight suit colors.
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"It became our turn to pick a color," he said (h/t Associated Press). "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."
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It's hard not to clock the significance of seeing Ukrainian colors splashed across cosmonaut flight suits, however. Russian president Vladimir Putin's widely condemned invasion of Ukraine has been accompanied by an online disinformation campaign intended to falsely paint the seemingly illegal military action as a heroic endeavor.
Tech companies are working to neutralize those disinformation efforts and isolate Russia financially, but Ukrainian iconography — such as the flag's colors and the country's national flower, the sunflower — has also become a way for people to express support (and raise awareness) online. Any ISS arrival is a cool space moment that has the potential to go viral, so whether it was intended or not, the yellow-and-blue flight suits left a mark.
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The arrival of Artemyev, Matveev, and Korsakov marks the start of their six-month mission in space. They're replacing cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov who, along with NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, are scheduled to head back to Earth on March 30.
Topics Activism
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
