Three Russian cosmonauts have risked the wrath of Vladimir Putin by arriving at the International Space Station wearing the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag.
Although the trio haven’t said it publicly, it could be a show of support for the plight of Ukraine which has had to endure Russian shells since their neighbour invaded on February 24.
The cosmonauts who have come into the international spotlight wearing the Ukraine colours are Commander Oleg Artemyev as well as rookies Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov.
Any attempt to stand up to Putin or disagree with the invasion of Ukraine leads to the possibility of severe repercussions in Russia where anti-war rallies have been broken up and demonstrators taken away by law enforcers.
The media is being strictly censored to try and stop any negative news about the invasion of Ukraine and protesters could face 15 years in jail for speaking out.
The experienced Artemyev, 51, a cosmonaut with the Russian Federal Space Agency and born in Latvia when it was part of the Soviet Union, arrived with two other Russian cosmonauts in the Soyuz capsule at the International Space Station.
Mateev, 38, is from St Petersburg and went to the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, in Moscow, while Korsakov, 37, is from Kyrgyzstan, and was picked by Russian Space agency Roscosmos in 2012.
They successfully docked at the outpost for a mission that continues a 20-year shared Russian-US presence in orbit despite tensions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The three cosmonauts were warmly welcomed by four Americans, two Russians and a German crewmate already aboard.
The rendezvous with the space station capped a flight of three hours and 10 minutes following liftoff of the Soyuz spacecraft from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
"Congratulations on the successful docking," a voice from Russia's mission control said moments later, according to an English translator speaking during a live NASA webcast of the event.
Link-up of the space vehicles took place as the Soyuz and space station flew some 250 miles above eastern Kazakhstan, a NASA commentator said.
About 2-1/2 hours later, after the passageway between the station and Soyuz was pressurized, two sets of hatches were opened and the three smiling Soyuz astronauts, dressed in yellow flight suits with blue highlights floated head-first, one by one, into the ISS.
They were greeted warmly with hugs and handshakes by all seven existing space station occupants who were waiting for them on the other side of the short corridor.
Artemyev, the Soyuz commander, was reportedly asked about the colours during a webcast by Russia's federal space agency Roscosmos and he said that that there was a "surplus of yellow fabric" in the warehouse so they decided to use it.
The colours that the cosmonauts were wearing also caused plenty of debate on social media.
"Three Russian cosmonauts who just docked with the ISS arrive in Ukrainian yellow!" said former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, who was on the space station with cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko from March 2015 to March 2016.
The three cosmonauts are on board for six and half months.
