Three Russian cosmonauts who arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) in yellow flight suits with blue accents say the choice of colours are not connected to Ukraine.
When the cosmonauts arrived at the ISS in the suits on Friday, some saw a message in them wearing the colours of the Ukrainian flag.
But cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev said each crew picks the colour of the flight suits about six months before launch because they need to be individually sewn.
And since all three of them were graduates of Bauman Moscow State Technical University, they chose the colours of their prestigious alma mater.
"There is no need to look for any hidden signs or symbols in our uniform," Mr Artemyev said in a statement on the Russian space agency's Telegram channel.
"These days, even though we are in space, we are together with our president and our people!"
Since Russia invaded Ukraine a little over three weeks ago, many people have used the Ukrainian flag and its colours to show solidarity with the country.
Dmitry Rogozin, the head of the space agency Roscosmos, reiterated Mr Artemyev's point in a tweet, posting a picture of the university's blue and gold coat of arms.
His tweet read: "Sometimes yellow means yellow."
Shortly after their arrival at the orbiting station, Mr Artemyev was asked about the flight suits.
He said there was a lot of yellow material in storage and "that's why we had to wear yellow".
ABC/wires
