Roscosmos releases picture of cosmonauts posing with Donetsk & Luhansk flags in space

The Russian space agency, Roscosmos, released a picture of its cosmonauts posing with the tricolour flags of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in outer space. The photograph posted on Telegram featured Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveyev and Sergey Korsakov who are part of the crew currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Notably, this comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared victory in Luhansk, which is one of the Russia-backed separatist territories in Ukraine's Donbas region. 

"This is a long-awaited day that residents of the occupied areas of the Luhansk region have been waiting for eight years", the agency captioned its post. "We are confident that July 3, 2022, will forever go down in the history of the Republic". Multiple media reports allege that the Russian cosmonauts are using outer space for their anti-Ukraine propaganda and that it is the most blatant use of the space station, which has acted as a beacon of international cooperation. 

Former NASA astronaut lashes out at Russian ISS members

In a conversation with Ars Technica, former NASA astronaut and ISS commander Terry Virts condemned the gesture by the Russian crew members. "I am incredibly disappointed to see cosmonauts and Roscosmos using the International Space Station as a platform to promote their illegal and immoral war, where civilians are being killed every day", Virts told Ars Technica. "The space station is supposed to be a symbol of peace and cooperation," he added.

Virts also said that NASA has so far ignored Russia's actions and Roscosmos Chief Dmitry Rogozin's provocative statements regarding space cooperation, however, the agency cannot afford to do so this time. However, the US space agency and Roscosmos are carrying on with their joint missions including the Crew-5, wherein Russia's only female cosmonaut Anna Kikina will fly to the space station in an American spacecraft, specifically SpaceX Crew Dragon, next year.

Notably, these gestures follow Rogozin's announcement that Russia will soon exit the ISS and that the restoration of relations between international partners is only possible if the Western countries lift the economic sanctions imposed on Moscow.