NASA astronaut: Russians were ‘blindsided’ by reaction to yellow suits

I posted a while back about the yellow and blue color scheme of the suits worn by Russian cosmonauts who had then just arrived at the International Space Station. This story says all three Russian had gone to a school whose colors are yellow and blue, and that they did not intend the colors to have any political significance. Those suits were likely designed months or even years in advance. So, because I posted something that suggested the opposite, it’s only fair I post this interpretation.

In his first public comments since returning to Earth aboard a Russia space craft, astronaut Mark Vande Hei says the war in Ukraine didn’t hurt relationships aboard the International Space Station.

[…]

As for the Russian crew members who recently joined the space station wearing yellow-and-blue suits, the colors of the Ukrainian flag, he said the outfits were not meant as political commentary. Instead, all three members went to the same university, and yellow and blue are the school colors.

He said the cosmonauts “had no idea that people would perceive that as having to do with Ukraine. … I think they were kind of blindsided by it.” —Washington Post