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Russian cosmonauts sparked speculation after wearing yellow-and-blue spacesuits last month.
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They later said they wore those colors to represent their university, not to symbolize the Ukrainian flag.
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NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei said on Tuesday they were “overwhelmed” by the attention they received.
The Russian cosmonauts who carried yellow and blue — the colors of the Ukrainian flag — to the International Space Station had been “overwhelmed” by speculation that they were protesting the war, NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei said Tuesday.
Vande Hei landed in Kazakhstan last week after spending 355 days in space.
In his first press conference since his return, Vande Hei described what life was like with his Russian colleagues on the ISS as the Russian invasion of Ukraine unfolded.
He specifically addressed the speculation surrounding Russian cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov after they were photographed on March 18 wearing yellow-blue spacesuits as they arrived at the ISS.
Yellow and blue are the colors of the Ukrainian flag, which many have used to show support for the nation defending against Russia.
“All three happened to be affiliated with the same university, and I think they were a bit taken aback by it,” Vande Hei said of his Russian crew members, CNN reported.
Artemyev, Matveev and Korsakov were graduates of Bauman Moscow State Technical University, who has a blue and gold coat of arms†
Vande Hei said the Russians had “no idea people would see that as something to do with Ukraine,” The Washington Post reported.
After photos of Artemyev, Matveev and Korsakov were published in blue and yellow, several former NASA astronauts, including Scott Kelly and Terry Virtsspeculated on social media that the Russians were showing support for Ukraine.
But Artemyev stopped speculation a few days later on the Russian space agency’s Telegram channel, saying, “There is no need to look for hidden signs or symbols in our uniform,” the Associated Press reported.
“A color is just a color. It is in no way connected to Ukraine. Otherwise we would have to recognize its rights to the yellow sun in the blue sky,” he said. “Today, even though we are in space, we are together with our president and our people!”
During the press conference, Vande Hei declined to comment on how his Russian crew members felt about the invasion of Ukraine.
“Those are things I’d rather they share directly rather than me telling them what they think,” he said, reported CNN. He added that their discussions of the war were “very brief” because their main focus was “on our common mission”.
Vande Hei’s interview came days after the head of the Russian space agency, Dimitry Rogozin, announced that Russia was suspending its cooperation on the ISS and its cooperation with NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. The US, the European Union and Canada have all imposed sanctions on Russia over the invasion.
Tensions between Russian and US space agencies have risen after Rogozin criticized US sanctions in aggressive social media posts and argued on Twitter with former US astronaut Mark Kelly.
But Vande Hei said the camaraderie in space remained the same.
“They were, are and remain very dear friends of mine,” he said of his Russian colleagues per CNN. “We supported each other in everything. And I never worried about my ability to continue working with them.”
Read the original article on Business Insider
