The German astronaut Matthias Maurer was able to observe the war in Ukraine well from the International Space Station ISS. “I had an excellent view of what was happening on the ground from space,” said the 52-year-old on Tuesday in the “ARD morning magazine”.
In the beginning, the country became completely dark at night – the lighting in the cities was reduced.
“People actually only recognized Kyiv,” he said. In the first days of the war he was also able to see the impacts. He saw lightning over Kyiv at night. That’s when he knew the rockets had hit. “During the day, huge pillars of black smoke hung over cities like Mariupol – clearly visible to the naked eye from space,” he added.
There was no dispute in the space station due to the war. “We’re a tight-knit team,” said Maurer. “It quickly became clear that we all agreed – we all think that terrible things are happening in Ukraine.”
