The Russian space agency Roscosmos posted a photograph on the messaging app Telegram of cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveyev and Sergei Korsakov with the flag of Russian forces occupying Luhansk onboard the International Space Station.
A second photograph featured the Cosmonauts with the flag of Russian occupying forces in Donetsk.
In a statement, Roscosmos said, "We celebrate on earth and in space."
Ukraine regroups defenses in Donbas
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address that Ukrainian forces are resisting Russia's continued advances following the capture of Lysychansk.
"There have been no significant changes on the battlefield in the past 24 hours," Zelenskyy said.
"The Armed Forces of Ukraine respond, push back and destroy the offensive potential of the occupiers day after day. We need to break them. It is a difficult task. It requires time and superhuman efforts. But we have no alternative," he said.
Earlier, the Ukrainian General Staff said that the focus of fighting had shifted further west into Donetsk province from the neighboring Luhansk province, which is effectively under Russian control after the Ukrainian withdrawal from Lysychansk.
Russian forces are now focusing on pushing toward the towns of Siversk, Feroivka and Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, the general staff said.
Serhiy Gaidai, the Ukrainian governor of Luhansk, said Ukrainian forces were now focused on holding a defensive line from their stronghold in Sloviansk to Bakhmut, some 45 kilometers to the south.
Russia has also intensified its shelling of Sloviansk and the neighboring city of Kramatorsk.
