Former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly has made accusations against the Russian government for brainwashing astronauts who were once his colleagues aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The astronaut told about this revelation in an interview with Newsweek. Kelly admitted that in a conversation with fellow astronauts about Ukraine, he was surprised to learn that “they supported the military invasion of Russia.”
“What surprises me is that they really believe their government that the alleged attack on Ukraine was “a necessary measure to prevent a Nazi attack and NATO expansion.” They told me about this,” says Kelly.
The astronaut was genuinely shocked by the fact that his former cosmonaut colleagues supported Putin’s regime: they easily succumbed to television propaganda and were misled – they were literally brainwashed.
“I discussed with them the atrocities committed by the Russian army in Bucha, Irpen and other cities in Ukraine, showed photos. But they believe that all this is allegedly done by Ukrainians themselves and blame the Russians for this, or it’s just fiction,” says Kelly.
Cosmonauts dream to leave Russia
Kelly admitted that NASA asked him to abandon open criticism of Russia in connection with the invasion of Ukraine in the hope of preserving weak space cooperation between the United States and Roscosmos. But that didn’t seem to stop him. At the same time, Kelly assures that not all of his former colleagues from Russia support the Putin regime, although he did not specify who exactly.
“Some cosmonauts have admitted to me that they would like to leave Russia because of this whole situation,” he told Newsweek.
Scott Kelly and his attitude to Ukraine
For Scott Kelly, Russia’s invasion in Ukraine is a deep trauma. He has family members and friends from Ukraine, one of whom he even helped to safely take his mother out of Kharkiv. He even called this a “serious operation.” She’s safe in another country now.
My nephew and niece have roots in Ukraine. Seeing their family’s homeland under attack has been painful. Yet despite despair, Isaac is eager to launch a fundraiser to help families in Ukraine.
It’s launch day, and I’m here for it! Join his mission! ???? https://t.co/PqZD2z2nyC
— Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) March 21, 2022
During his career at NASA, Scott Kelly commanded the International Space Station several times. He is an outspoken critic of the Russian government for the military invasion in Ukraine on February 24 this year. The former astronaut regularly uses Twitter to criticize Russian officials and spread truthful information about Russia’s actions in Ukraine among his 5.3 million followers, some of whom are Russian. Kelly even created the NFT to support Ukraine.
Kelly is also familiar with Russian culture and has worked with Russian cosmonauts for many years and has repeatedly flown to the ISS and back on Russian Soyuz series spacecraft. He also spent almost a whole year on the ISS together with Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko in the period from 2015 to 2016, after which he retired.
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