WASHINGTON - Two Russian cosmonauts and an American astronaut docked with the International Space Station on Friday after blasting off amid raging tensions between Moscow and Washington over Ukraine.
Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub and NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara lifted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft on Friday.
The crew docked at the ISS three hours later, the Russian space agency said.
At the orbiting station, the trio will join three Russians, two Americans, a Japanese astronaut and a representative of the European Space Agency.
The liftoff took place after Russia's first lunar mission in nearly 50 years failed last month.
The ISS is a rare venue for cooperation between the United States and Russia, whose ties broke down after Moscow unleashed its offensive in Ukraine last year.
Kononenko alluded to the tensions during a pre-flight press conference on Thursday, saying that "unlike on earth" cosmonauts and astronauts took care of each other in space.
"We hear each other there, and we understand each other, and we are very sensitive to our relationships," he said. "We always take care of each other."
O'Hara praised the station's "legacy" and said it had been bringing the countries together.
"I'm excited to get on board and see the crewmates who are waiting for us," she added.
The three take over from Russians Dmitry Petelin and Sergey Prokopyev, as well as NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, who have spent one year aboard the ISS.