The escalations in the Russia-Ukraine war is now reaching space as Russia repainted a space rocket to cover the flags of the US, UK and Japan on it. However, the Russians left the Indian Flag intact on the rocket. Russian space agency ROSCOSMOS confirmed the repainting of the rocket and said that the rocket would look ‘more beautiful’ without some flags.
Russian space agency ROSCOSMOS’ chief Dmitry Rogozin, on Wednesday, shared a video of workers covering certain flags painted on a Russian space rocket. Sharing the video on social media, Rogozin wrote, “The launchers…decided that without the flags of some countries, our rocket would look more beautiful.” This comes after the US, UK and Japan imposed sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
The covering of national flags by Russia comes as a retaliation to the countries’ sanctions on the country. Interestingly, the space agency kept the Indian flag intact and chose against covering the tricolour. It is noteworthy that India had earlier abstained from voting against Russia in the UN Security Council after they invaded Ukraine. The video of the repainting of the spaceship with an Indian flag on it has since gone viral on social media. 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.
US imposes additional sanctions on Russia
Russia’s action of covering other nationals’ flags including the US, comes after the White House announced additional sanctions against Russia and its ally Belarus. Sanctions including extending export controls that target Russian oil refining and entities supporting the Russian and Belarusian military were announced by President Joe Biden on Wednesday.
“Today, the United States, in coordination with Allies and partners, is imposing additional economic costs on Russia and Belarus in response to President Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine. The United States will take actions to hold Belarus accountable for enabling Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, weaken the Russian defence sector and its military power for years to come, target Russia’s most important sources of wealth, and ban Russian airlines from U.S. airspace,” the White House said in a statement.
Russia-Ukraine war
In the latest update, as per the mayor of the southern city of Kherson’s statement, Russian military forces have entered the city and making their way into the council building. Russia’s defence ministry on Wednesday had said that its armed forces have captured Kherson. Meanwhile, the Russian military is stepping up its offensive and moving its forces closer towards Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv. On February 24, Russia launched attacks on Ukraine that quickly spread across the country as Russian forces attacked from three sides by land, sea, and air. (republicworld)
