Russian cosmonauts boarded the International Space Station wearing yellow and blue, the colors of Ukraine's flag, but it might not be the show of support it seems

The colors of the Ukrainian flag are being used to show support for the nation as it faces a Russian invasion.

It is not clear if the cosmonauts are showing solidarity with Ukraine.

—Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace) March 18, 2022

The cosmonauts arrived at the International Space Station three hours later after launching from a facility in Kazakhstan. They were the first new arrivals to the International Space Station.

Several former NASA astronauts, including Scott Kelly and Terry Virts, assumed the yellow suits with blue accents were meant to be a show of support for Ukraine.

—Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) March 18, 2022

—Terry Virts (@AstroTerry) March 18, 2022

The suits were not implied to be a political statement by the cosmonauts.

After boarding the space station and making a video call back down to earth, Artemyev was asked about the suits.

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.

The spacesuits are usually packed months before a mission, but it is possible that the cosmonauts smuggled them on, according to Eric Berger.

The colors yellow and blue are used by Bauman University in Moscow, which all three cosmonauts attended, according to an astronomer at the Harvard Center for Astrophysics.

—Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) March 18, 2022

Six and half months will be spent on the space station by the two Russian cosmonauts and four NASA astronauts.