Three Russian cosmonauts arrived at the International Space Station wearing yellow flight suits with blue accents and matching Ukrainian flags.

The men were the first new arrivals on the space station since the start of the war in Ukraine.

The three Russian spacemen blasted off from the Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan on Friday at 8.55pm local time. They docked at the station just over three hours later, joining two Russians, four Americans and a German.

The video of Artemyev was taken as he prepared to dock with the space station. It was not clear what message the yellow uniforms were intended to send.

Artemyev was asked about the suits when the cosmonauts talked to their family. He said every crew made their own decisions.

It was our turn to pick a color. He said that they needed to wear yellow because they had accumulated a lot of yellow material.

Many people have used the Ukrainian flag and its colors to show their support for the country.

The war has resulted in broken contracts. The US would have to use broomsticks to fly into space after Russia said it would stop supplying rocket engines to US companies. Many are concerned that a peaceful off-planet partnership is at risk, most notably at the space station.

Bill Nelson said that the comments were just Dmitry Rogozin. He spouts off. He worked with us at the end of the day.

The other people in the Russian space program are professional. They keep up with us, American astronauts and American mission control. We can have a cooperation with our Russian friends up in space.

Mark Vande Hei, who on Tuesday broke the US single spaceflight record of 340 days, is due to leave the space station with two Russians on a Soyuz capsule for a return to Earth.

The space station will be blasted off in April with three Nasa and one Italian astronauts on board.