Russia says stranded astronauts to return from ISS in September

FILE PHOTO: A view shows external damage believed to have caused a loss of pressure in the cooling system of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft docked to the International Space Station (ISS), in this image released February 13, 2023. Roscosmos/Handout via REUTERS

(Reuters) - Russia said on Tuesday that three astronauts left stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) by a leak on their return capsule last year would land back on Earth in a Soyuz MS-23 replacement capsule in September.

Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin and U.S. astronaut Francisco Rubio, who had been due to end their mission in March, were left stuck in space after the cooling system of their Soyuz MS-22 capsule started leaking two months ago.