Russian cosmonauts arrive in space wearing colours of the Ukrainian flag

Three Russian cosmonauts have arrived at the International Space Station wearing flight suits in the colours of the Ukrainian flag, in what appears to be a bold statement of support for the nation that is currently battling a Russian invasion.

They were the first new arrivals on the space station since the start of the Russian war in Ukraine last month.

A video showed the men – Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveyev and Sergey Korsakov, of Russian space corporation Roscosmos – wearing blue and white suits before blasting off on Friday.

When they arrived, they had changed and boarded the space station wearing yellow suits with blue accents.

Asked about the suits once they arrived at the ISS – where they joined American, Russian and German crew – they did not mention Ukraine.

Mr Artemyev explained that every crew chooses its own suits, so they are not all the same.

"We had accumulated a lot of yellow material so we needed to use it. So that's why we had to wear yellow," he said.

Space journalist Eric Berger described the colour scheme as "striking".

Writing on Twitter, he noted that flight suits are typically "selected and packed a few months before the mission launch. So it is possible this is a coincidence. But it seems like a very, very big coincidence if so."

Whether intentional or not, many were supportive of the colour choice. Retired Nasa astronaut Terry Virts commented on a photo of the men with the words: "Wow. Just wow. Well done."

But Russia's space agency dismissed speculation that the colours were a show of support for Ukraine.

"Sometimes yellow is just yellow," Roscosmos said in a statement. "To see the Ukrainian flag everywhere and in everything is crazy."

The International Space Station is a collaboration between US, Russian, European, Canadian and Japanese space agencies.

The US and Russia have maintained a shared presence there for more than two decades, but after the invasion of Ukraine Russia's space chief Dmitry Rogozin raised the prospect of pulling out of the partnership in response to US sanctions.

At the time, Nasa said the countries were continuing to work together peacefully in space.

Kathy Lueders, Nasa’s associate administrator for space operations. said: “Obviously we understand the global situation and where it is, but as a joint team, these teams are operating together. We've operated in these kinds of situations before and both sides always operated very professionally".

However, she indicated that officials were exploring ways to keep the ISS in orbit without Russian help, just in case.

"We always look for how we get more operational flexibility," she said.