Russian Cosmonaut Dismisses Rumours About ISS Crew, Hole in Soyuz Spaceship

"A lot has already been said about it on social networks, but I want to assure you that everything that is written on social networks, almost everything is not true and you should not think badly about the crew. Everything is fine, we interacted very well, including in the process of getting out of this emergency operation. The crew worked so well that we really can't complain," Prokopyev said at the post-flight press conference.

READ MORE: Investigators to Question Russia Cosmonauts Amid ISS 'Hole' Probe — Source

The comment was made after on December 11, Russian cosmonauts on board the ISS, Oleg Kononenko and Sergey Prokopyev, carried out a spacewalk to examine the hole in the spacecraft, found in late August. The cosmonauts cut off three pieces of micrometeoroid protection to take samples of the sealer and the surface surrounding the microfracture. The samples were delivered to Earth, where they should be handed over to investigators to determine the causes of the hole on the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft.

Earlier, on August 30, the ISS crew detected a minor air leak caused by a microfracture on a wall of the orbital module of the Soyuz MS-09. The hole was sealed by the crew on the same day, and Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos set up a special commission to investigate the incident.

In October, the commission concluded that the incident was not caused by a manufacturing defect. The law enforcement agencies are also engaged in the investigation.