Russian astronauts on Monday (April 18) installed robotic arm controls on the International Space Station.
It comes as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has brought the Kremlin’s relations with the West to their lowest point since the Soviet era.
Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev, who belong to the Russian space agency Roscosmos, had blasted off with Sergei Korsakov to the ISS at 1555 GMT.
Roscosomos head Dmitri Rogozin wrote in apost, “Ours! For the first time in many years, a completely Russian crew.”
He is a nationalist ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin who is an enthusiastic supporter of Moscow’s military intervention in Ukraine.
Last month he tweeted, “If you block cooperation with us, who will save the ISS from uncontrolled deorbiting and falling on the US or European territory?”
After successfully entering the orbital lab, Artemyev and Matveev went for a spacewalk to install a control panel for a 37-foot-long robotic arm that will be used to move both astronauts and payloads.
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They also installed handrails on Nauka, Russia’s primary laboratory on the space station.The engineers were scheduled to exit the Russian module Poisk after completing their seven-hour excursion.
NASA has said that it “continues working with all our international partners, including the State Space Corporation Roscosmos, for the ongoing safe operations of the International Space Station.”
During its live feed, Artemyev can be seen wearing a red-striped spacesuit during his fourth spacewalk.
Meanwhile, Matveev can be identified by the blue stripes on his suit during his first such mission.
This was the fourth spacewalk at the ISS in 2022 as per the US space agency.
Russia’s ”special operation” in Ukraine for its ”reunification and denazification” has caused a rift with the West which is not willing to collaborate with it on new missions.
American astronaut Scott Kelly had refused a medal awarded to him by the Russian government in 2011.
“Please, give (the medal) to Russian mothers whose sons have been killed in this unjust war,” he said in a tweet.
(With inputs from agencies)
