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Three Russian astronauts were launched to the International Space Station early Friday. A few hours later, the Soyuz spacecraft docked at the space station, and when they boarded the orbiting outpost, they were wearing flight suits in striking colors of yellow and blue, similar to the colors of the Ukrainian flag.

The Russian astronauts said nothing to suggest that their clothing was a political statement. Still, it seemed hard to believe that this was a coincidence. Clothing worn by astronauts in orbit on a daily basis tends to be subdued. But recently crews from Russia donned vibrant flight suits in a variety of colors during their arrival, including actress Yulia Peresild, who arrived at the station in November. a bold red jumpsuit.

Eric Berger, a space correspondent at the Ars Technica website, said flight suits are usually prepared and packaged months in advance, but substitutes can be added among the final items to be loaded onto the spacecraft.

Jonathan McDowell, a scientist at the Harvard Center for Astrophysics who closely follows space missions, suggested that the colors might actually be the colors of Bauman Moscow State Technical University, where all three astronauts (Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev, and Sergey Korsakov) attended. An official from the university He spoke as a guest on the Russian live broadcast. Friday from its launch.

However, Mr. Berger noted that the colors of the flight suit are closer to the colors of the Ukrainian flag.

Russia’s space program and some of its partners and customers have been collateral damage by the war in Ukraine and the ensuing sanctions. European Space Agency A mission to Mars on Thursday was suspended it was to be launched by a Russian rocket. earlier this month, OneWeb, a British satellite company partially owned by the British government, has canceled launches The number of internet satellites that will travel on Russia’s Soyuz rockets.

Dmitry Rogozin, head of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, responded on Twitter with a series of provocative messages. Russian Soyuz later this month. Mr Rogozin publicly quarreled with Scott Kellya retired astronaut who holds the record consecutive days in space By an American until Mr. Vande Hei passed recently.

In public statements, NASA officials ignored Mr. Rogozin’s statements and insisted that operations with his Russian colleagues continue as usual. They said there is no change in plans for Mr. Vande Hei’s return.

A pair of crews will fly SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft to the station next month – one a private tourist team with Axiom company, the other a mix of NASA and ESA astronauts.