Paris, (AFP) - Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti on Wednesday became the first European to command the International Space Station, 400 kilometers above Earth, during a ceremony broadcast live from space.

The occasion provided an opportunity for the outgoing station commander, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev, to wink at the channel of the conflict in Ukraine, as he said, "Despite all the thunderstorms on Earth, our international communication continues."

This is the second period spent in space by Samantha Cristoforetti, the 45-year-old engineer and war pilot who moved to the International Space Station on April 27. She set the record for the longest space mission spent by a woman on a mission, with 199 days in orbit, between 2014 and 2015.

The Italian is also the fifth woman, and the first non-American woman to lead the vehicle since its official designation in 2000.

During a friendly ceremony overshadowed by the atmosphere of fun, the station's outgoing Russian commander, Oleg Artemyev, handed a symbolic golden key to his successor in launching its mission, which it will take over until the tenth of October, until its return to Earth.

The Russian cosmonaut praised the work of the crew of ten cosmonauts from three countries. He described the International Space Station as "a continuation of the Soyuz-Apollo program, when the relationship between these countries was complicated, and when men took up this path leading to peace and ending war everywhere."

Russian-Western cooperation in the space field has been affected by the military offensive launched by Russia since February 24 against its neighbor Ukraine.

Western sanctions against Russia as a result of this invasion affect, in part, the Russian space sector, and may have repercussions on the International Space Station, especially in terms of disrupting some catering operations.

Cristoforetti praised the work of her colleagues, noting that the station crew is "a small part of the enormous team that is on Earth" managing the operations of the International Space Station.

The decision to choose the leaders of the International Space Station is up to the five space agencies participating in the International Space Station: NASA (the United States), Roskosmos (Russia), the European Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency and the Japanese space agency "JAXA".