'Fire in their eyes': Three Russian cosmonauts return from International Space Station

Roscosmos announced on Thursday (September 29) that three Russian cosmonauts returned safely from a mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

The Russian space agency said that the Soyuz MS-21 spacecraft carrying Sergey Korsakov, Denis Matveyev and Oleg Artemyev landed in the steppes of Kazakhstan about 150 kilometres (about 90 miles) southeast of the city of Zhezkazgan.

As they become used to the effects of gravity again, the cosmonauts are helped by the Soyuz descent module.

The crew completed multiple experiments and five spacewalks during their 195 days aboard the station as per Roscosmos.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the three-person crew blasted off to the ISS to begin their mission in mid-March.

In order to voice support for Moscow's troops in eastern Ukraine, Roscosmos posted a photograph of the trio aboard the ISS holding flags of the Kremlin-backed breakaway Lugansk and Donetsk regions.

The cosmonauts will be flown to the Star City cosmonaut training centre outside Moscow later in the day after a quick post-flight medical exam.

After hastily organised votes that the West says were a sham, their return to Earth comes as four Moscow-held regions of Ukraine called on President Vladimir Putin to formally annex the territories into Russia.

The ISS, which is split into two sections, is currently operated by NASA astronauts Bob Hines, Kjell Lindgren, Frank Rubio, and Jessica Watkins, Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency, and the Russian space agency Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin.

While space remains one of the last remaining areas of cooperation between Moscow and Washington, Russia has stated its intention to leave the ISS after 2024.

Anna Kikina, Russia's only active female cosmonaut, is expected to travel to the orbital station in early October aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon. 

(With inputs from agencies)

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