A Soyuz-2.1a rocket booster with the Soyuz MS-21 manned spaceship is being installed on a launch pad at the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on March 15, 2022. Russian cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev and Sergei Korsakov are scheduled to travel to the International Space Station aboard the Soyuz MS-21 spacecraft on March 18. Photo: VCG

The "fashion choice" of the three cosmonauts who just arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday has become the latest tool that the US-led West has employed in their "information war against Russia" amid the ongoing Ukraine tensions. 

Dmitry Rogozin, head of Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, made the remarks on his social media accounts, posting pictures of media coverage speculating the cosmonauts were supporting Ukraine. "Here some bandit cowards and their Anglo-Saxon sponsors don't know what else to come up with in their information war against Russia," he said, adding that the crew members were not representing Ukraine but wearing colors from their alma mater: Bauman Moscow State Technical University, media reported.

"The design of the uniforms was coordinated long before the current events. Seeing the Ukrainian flag everywhere and in everything is just a clinic [in propaganda]," another Roscosmos official wrote on his Telegram channel "Closed Space."

Some Chinese space analysts reached by the Global Times on Sunday said it was very regretful to see that the conflicts on Earth have been brought to space, threatening not only the safety of the ISS but also mankind's common pursuit of the universe. 

"The US-led Western media has been politicizing space affairs and cooperation with distorted facts, with the clothing issue being the latest example," Wei Dongxu, a space analyst based in Beijing, told the Global Times on Sunday. 

The Russian space head's protest came following Western media's misrepresentation of the colors of the suits three Russian cosmonauts were seen wearing when they entered through the hatch and boarded the orbiting outpost. The bright yellow flight suits with blue highlights were misinterpreted by many Western media including the New York Times, which drew similarities with the Ukrainian flag, and speculated that the astronauts were making a political statement. 

The US National Public Radio said on Saturday local time that it was "an apparent statement of support for Ukraine," and "wearing the colors of the Ukrainian flag has widely been seen as a way to oppose" Russia's military operation in Ukraine. 

Similarly, the New York Times reported on Friday that "Russian astronauts did not say anything that would suggest that their clothing was a political statement. Yet it seemed difficult to believe it was happenstance." While CNN on Saturday said that it is possible that the suits are a sign of solidarity with Ukraine, and rebuking their own government's operation. 

Following the US' step of sanctioning Russia in the space sector, the European Space Agency has confirmed that it is indefinitely suspending its ExoMars rover mission with Roscosmos. The ESA said in a statement "We deeply deplore the human casualties and tragic consequences of the aggression towards Ukraine." 

The ExoMars mission had already been pushed back from 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic and the need for more tests on the spacecraft. Due to their respective orbits around the Sun, Mars is only readily reachable from Earth every two years. The next launch window would be 2024.

Moscow responded to the ESA's decision by saying it would go to Mars on its own. "Yes, we'll lose several years, but we'll copy our landing module, provide it with an Angara launch vehicle, and we will carry out this research expedition from the new launch site of the Vostochny Cosmodrome independently," Rogozin said in a statement. 

Song Zhongping, a space affairs observer and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Sunday that China, with great independent innovation and a complete manufacturing capabilities, could help fill in the blank space where Russia's space industry is affected by the US sanctions and given the current situation, there is a great possibility that Beijing and Moscow will have even more cooperation in space.