Roscosmos has explained the meaning behind Russian cosmonauts' yellow and blue suits. In contrast to what some Western media outlets viewed as a political expression, the colours refer to symbols of the university that all three men graduated from - Bauman Moscow State Technical University.
On his Twitter account, Rogozin recommended refraining from looking for other meanings in the space suits.
One of the cosmonauts, Oleg Artemyev, echoed the sentiment, noting that sometimes a colour is just a colour and not necessarily a reference to some country's national flag.
"Colour is just colour. It has nothing to do with Ukraine. Otherwise, you will have to recognise [Ukraine's] ownership of the yellow sun in the blue sky", Artemyev said.
The colour pallette of the Russian space suits drew a lot of attention in the Western media on Saturday, with many outlets - among them The Times, The Guardian, CBS News, and others - suggesting that it was an indication of the cosmonauts' political position regarding the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.
However, according to Roscosmos' press service chief Dmitry Strugovets, the design of a space uniform is agreed on long before a flight takes place, and it had nothing to do with Ukraine's national symbols.
Instead, the colours refer to the symbols of the Bauman Moscow State Technical University. Oleg Artemyev, along with fellow cosmonauts Sergei Korsakov and Denis Matveev, graduated from this university. Moreover, Artemyev, according to Roscosmos' press service, has already travelled to space wearing the colours of his alma mater.
The three Russian cosmonauts arrived at the ISS on 18 March on board the Soyuz MC-21 spacecraft.