The USA celebrates Independence Day on July 4. The American astronauts appealed to their citizens on this score. In response, the Russian cosmonauts congratulated the so-called “LPR” on their “liberation”, which caused another scandal.
Independence Day on the ISS
Despite all attempts to make the International Space Station an island of peace, it has again found itself in the center of a political scandal. It was caused by the Independence Day of the United States and the capture of the Russians of Lysychansk city, which almost coincide in time.
This year, American astronauts congratulated their fellow citizens quite modestly. Bob Hines and Kjell Lindgren recorded a short message for their fellow citizens, in which they wished them a merry holiday.
Hines also welcomed them on Twitter. He thanked his country for the opportunity to fly into space and posted a photo of the American flag. It was placed on the glass of the observation module “Dome”.
Happy Birthday, America! The crew of FREEDOM and @Space_Station Expedition 67 wishes everyone back home a Happy Independence Day! I am so thankful for the opportunities our country provides. God Bless America! pic.twitter.com/onJuGxwp9f
— Bob “Farmer” Hines (@Astro_FarmerBob) July 4, 2022
Congratulations from astronauts
The congratulations from the astronauts would not have been news if the Russian cosmonauts had not also decided to perform on July 4, holding flags in their hands. However, these flags were not American, but belonged to the so-called Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics. And they welcomed not their long-term partners in space activities, but a group of bandits who had established terrorist regimes on the territory of Ukraine.
The official reason for the greeting was the event of the Russian troops in the Lysychansk city, which had previously been abandoned by Ukrainian troops. According to Oleg Artiemiev, Dienis Matvieiev and Serhii Korsakov, this is “the liberation of the Luhansk People’s Republic”.
The message posted on the website of the allegedly peaceful organization Roscosmos also calls on “citizens of the Donetsk People’s Republic” to wait for something. Obviously, it implies attempts by Russian troops to seize new territories of Ukraine.
It is worth noting that both pieces of fabric, which served as flags of unrecognized republics, were considerable. They couldn’t just lie around somewhere. So, either the astronauts brought them with them back in March, or they were delivered to them by a cargo spacecraft back in early June.
Reaction to the actions of the Russians
Officially, NASA did not comment on the actions of the Russians, which cannot be called apolitical. The space agency is currently holding difficult negotiations on the possibility of exchanging crew members. Time is almost up, but many hope that the American astronaut will fly away on the nearest Soyuz, and the Russian cosmonaut — on Dragon.
Russia is now officially using the @Space_Station to promote their illegal and immoral war in Ukraine, where they kill civilians every day. We can’t ignore it anymore. @nasa @roscosmos @DRogozin @guardian https://t.co/ux8Trd8ffZ
— Terry Virts (@AstroTerry) July 4, 2022
However, many have lost their patience. So, astronaut Terry Virts posted an angry post on his Twitter that the Russians are using the ISS as a platform for propaganda of the killings of peaceful Ukrainians by their troops and called on the government to respond in the same way. So, the question of whether a blue-yellow or red-black flag will appear on the ISS remains open.
According to www.space.com, news.sky.com, twitter.com/AstroTerry
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