Watch: Russia removes US, UK, Japan flags, keeps India’s Tricolour intact on Soyuz rocket
After Russia warned that the USA and European nations’ sanctions due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine can result in a crash of the International Space Station, they have now removed all the flags of countries participating in a space program from a rocket they are launching, except the flag of India.
Perhaps for the first time in history, the impact of war on earth is now reaching space as Russia covered the flags of the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom while leaving the Indian flag intact.
After Russia warned that the USA and European nations’ sanctions due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine can result in a crash of the International Space Station, they have now removed all the flags of countries participating in a space program from a rocket they are launching, except the flag of India.
“The launchers at Baikonur decided that without the flags of some countries, our rocket would look more beautiful,” Russian space agency ROSCOSMOS’ chief Dmitry Rogozin tweeted. He shared a video of workers covering certain flags painted on a Russian space rocket.
The video of the covering of national flags by Russia comes as a retaliation to the countries’ sanctions, the video of the repainting of the spaceship with an Indian flag on it has since gone viral on social media.
Notably, India had earlier abstained from voting against Russia in the UN Security Council after they invaded Ukraine. Meanwhile, PM Modi had dialled Russian President Vladimir Putin to review the situation in Ukraine, especially in the city of Kharkiv where many Indian students are stuck.
The Soyuz rocket is carrying 36 satellites from various countries which will provide broadband Internet connectivity under the OneWeb project. The project aims to launch 648 satellites into orbit, and 428 of them have already been launched, all of them using the Soyuz vehicle. Bharti Airtel group and the UK government are the owners of the project.