US undermining safety of Russian Cosmonaut's work on ISS by denying visa: Roscosmos

The United States refused to grant an entry visa to Russian cosmonaut Nikolay Chub, who was to take part in training at the NASA space center. The Roscosmos press service said the US refusal to issue a visa raises questions about the safety of the Russian cosmonaut's stay at the International Space Station (ISS) as well as the safety of Chub's colleagues. According to Sputnik, Chub joined the Russian crew in 2012 and was to undergo training at the Johnson Space Center before his first flight to the ISS, planned for 2023.

The Roscosmos press service told reporters that "the situation puts into question the safety of the Russian cosmonaut's stay at the ISS and the safety of the American segment of the station due to the unpreparedness of the Russian cosmonaut in the event of an emergency," reported Sputnik. Notably, the Russian cosmonaut requires a visa to participate in the first 5-week session at the Johnson Space Center to understand the systems of the American and Russian segments.

"Without lectures and practical exercises on the layout of the US segment, getting familiar with the operation of its systems, understanding the interaction between the systems of the American and Russian segments, as well as taking a course on actions in the event of an emergency, the space flight is basically impossible," Roscosmos said.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson of the US Embassy in Moscow, Jason Rebholz, told Sputnik that the "US Embassy in Moscow does its best to continue issuing visas to Russian cosmonauts even given the limited staff, but cannot comment on separate cases of visa processing."  Russian cosmonaut Nikolay Chub belongs to ISS Expedition 68. He is a member of the backup crew, which is to fly to the orbital outpost aboard the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft in September this year. He is also a member of Expedition 69’s main crew, to be delivered to the ISS by a Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft in the spring of 2023, reported TASS. Training of Russian cosmonauts at the Johnson Space Center and training of foreign astronauts at Russia’s Yury Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center is routine practice. During the training, the space station's crew is given knowledge of the US and Russian orbital segments of the International Space Station.