Shifting the survival training to Crimea may force foreign cosmonauts to accept travel there without Ukrainian visas

Russia is planning to move part of its cosmonaut training programme to occupied Crimea, potentially forcing the US and Europe into a diplomatic tight spot over the future of the International Space Station (ISS).

The state-owned news agency Itar-Tass has announced that splashdown survival training could soon be shifted from Moscow’s outskirts to the Crimean city of Sevastopol. Any such move would pose a dilemma for Nasa and the European Space Agency, which rely on the Russian government to ferry their astronauts to and from the ISS.

Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March brought outcry from much of the international community, which still recognises it as Ukrainian territory.

“Shifting the survival training to Russian-occupied Crimea will require foreign cosmonauts to accept travel there without Ukrainian