Alexey Zubritsky, 32, is wanted in Ukraine for desertion after fleeing his aviation unit to join Vladimir Putin’s forces – but he’s currently in space on board the International Space Station
A Ukrainian armed forces pilot who went missing from the front line is now hiding from his commanders – on the International Space Station. Alexey Zubritsky, 32, is listed as a Ukrainian deserter and last month was sentenced in his absence to 15 years behind bars.
The pilot flew attack aircraft for Ukraine in the aviation unit of the 204th Sevastopol Brigade in 2013. But when Vladimir Putin illegally seized Crimea the following year, Zubritsky joined Russian forces, and was later based in Rostov and Krasnodar regions. He later switched to cosmonaut training, and on Tuesday he blasted off on a Soyuz-2a rocket to the ISS with Russian commander Sergey Ryzhikov and NASA astronaut Jonny Kim.
Should he ever return, Ukrainian-born Mr Zubritsky faces arrest in his home country and the confiscation of all of his property.
The Ukrainian prosecutor said: “Having committed high treason and desertion, he joined the armed forces of the Russian Federation, where he is still serving, in particular, as a test cosmonaut, [and] flight engineer of the ISS-72/73 crew [currently in space].”
Pro-Kremlin news outlet Shot said: “Russians have exceptional respect for Alexey, are happy for his career and send greetings to the ISS.”
On Tuesday, the Soyuz booster rocket lifted off as scheduled from the Russia-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan to put the Soyuz MS-27 into orbit.
It was carrying Mr Zubritsky, NASA astronaut Jonny Kim and Russia’s Sergey Ryzhikov, who arrived at the station just over three hours later.
The trio are scheduled to spend about eight months at the space outpost, which currently has 10 people on board.NASA said American astronaut Mr Kim will conduct scientific investigations and technology demonstrations to help prepare the crew for future space missions and provide benefits to people on Earth.
Mr Kim, from Los Angeles, is a US Navy lieutenant commander and dual-designated naval aviator and flight surgeon.
A statement from NASA said: “Throughout his eight-month stay aboard the orbital outpost, Kim will conduct scientific research in technology development, Earth science, biology, human research, and more,” NASA said in a statement.”
The group of three joined NASA astronauts Don Pettit, Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s astronaut Takuya Onishi and Russian cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner and Kirill Peskov on the space outpost.
The International Space Station launched in November 1998 and is divided into two sections – the Russian Orbital Segment and the US Orbital Segment.
These two sections are designed to interact and are not fully independent from each other, with co-operation taking place in various areas including power sharing and attitude control.
Crew members from both sections also regularly socialise.
The ISS orbits the Earth at an average altitude of 250 miles, and circles the Earth every 93 minutes.