From the USSR flag on the Moon to aggression against Ukraine and alliance with Iran: how Putin’s Russia destroyed the possibility of cooperation with the civilized world

On July 15, 2026, a small USSR flag that participated in the historic Apollo 11 mission was sold at a Sotheby’s auction.

According to published data, a piece of red fabric approximately 10 by 15 centimeters was sold for 80 thousand dollars.

But the value of this item lies not in the sickle, hammer, or Soviet symbolism. The flag is a reminder of a time when two rival superpowers could simultaneously compete, converse, and leave room for gestures of goodwill.

Today the contrast looks especially sharp.

In 1969, an American astronaut voluntarily took the USSR flag to the Moon to emphasize that space exploration should unite humanity.

Decades later, Putin’s Russia is waging a war of aggression against Ukraine, cooperating with the Iranian regime, hosting representatives of Hamas in Moscow, politically shielding Hezbollah, and using international platforms to pressure Israel.

The story of the small flag became a story of what path could have been chosen — and where Putin’s Russia actually led.

The flag was a gesture, not a Soviet victory on the Moon

At the Sotheby’s auction, the item was listed as lot №45 under the title:

Flown to the Moon on Apollo 11 — Buzz Aldrin’s USSR Flag.

The flag belonged to Buzz Aldrin’s family trust. It retained the astronaut’s signature and a blue pen inscription:

FLOWN TO THE MOON ON APOLLO XI.

The preliminary estimate was 7–10 thousand dollars. Sotheby’s public card confirms that the auction ended on July 15, 2026, but the final result is available only to registered users.

It is important to understand: this was not a flag planted by Soviet cosmonauts on the lunar surface.

It was taken by Buzz Aldrin, one of the first two people to set foot on the Moon.

The flag was in his Personal Preference Kit — PPK, a small personal set of items allowed for each astronaut. Along with the Soviet flag, Aldrin took flags of the USA, Texas, and his native New Jersey.

In a letter accompanying the lot, Aldrin explained his choice as an act of diplomacy and a gesture of goodwill between the USA and the Soviet Union. According to him, he wanted to show that Apollo 11 was an achievement of humanity that transcended national borders.

The flag flew aboard the command module Columbia. It reached lunar orbit and returned to Earth, but there is no evidence of it being transferred to the lunar module and the Moon’s surface.

Thus, it is not about Soviet presence on the Moon, but about a personal gesture of an American astronaut towards his country’s main rival.

Even at the height of the Cold War, there was room for contact

The Apollo 11 mission was primarily an American victory in the space race.

The USSR was the first to launch an artificial satellite, the first to send a human into space, but the USA was the first to land people on the Moon.

Despite this, the American side tried to give the flight an international meaning.

On board were flags of American states, territories, and other countries. A silicon disk with messages from leaders of 73 countries was left on the Moon. A plaque with the words: “We came in peace for all mankind” was attached to the landing stage of the Eagle.

Six years later, symbolic gestures turned into real cooperation.

On July 17, 1975, the American Apollo spacecraft docked in orbit with the Soviet Soyuz. Astronaut Thomas Stafford and cosmonaut Alexei Leonov exchanged a historic handshake. The joined spacecraft remained together for about 47 hours, with crews visiting each other, conducting experiments, and practicing technologies for future joint missions.

The USA and the USSR did not cease to be adversaries.

They still had nuclear missiles, intelligence, propaganda, competition for allies, and fundamentally different political systems. But even in such conditions, they understood that there were areas where cooperation was necessary for the safety of the entire world.

Buzz Aldrin’s small Soviet flag was one of the first symbols of this possibility.

Putin’s Russia chose the opposite path

After the collapse of the USSR, Russia had a chance to become part of the system of international cooperation.

However, the Putin regime gradually built a state for which external aggression, blackmail, propaganda, and the search for enemies became a way to maintain power.

The culmination was the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

The Russian army began destroying Ukrainian cities, attacking residential buildings, hospitals, power plants, and other civilian infrastructure. In June 2026, the European Council again stated that Russia had intensified large-scale missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities and energy facilities.

On November 23, 2022, the European Parliament recognized Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism and a state using terrorist methods.

The decision was supported by 494 deputies. The European Parliament pointed to deliberate attacks by Russian forces on civilians and the destruction of civilian infrastructure. This was a political resolution, not an inclusion in a pan-European legal list, as no such mechanism existed in the EU. But the assessment was crystal clear: the actions of the Russian regime are considered terrorism.

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine also recognized the Russian regime as terrorist and condemned Russia’s use of energy terrorism against the population.

Therefore, the expression “Russia is a terrorist” did not arise as an emotional slogan of social networks. It became a political and legal assessment of a state that turned missiles on cities into a tool of pressure.

The war tied Russia with Iran

For Israel, it is especially important who Putin’s Russia has built a new system of alliances with.

One of Moscow’s main partners became the Iranian regime.

Iran supplied Russia with drones, missiles, ammunition, and technologies related to their production for the war against Ukraine. The European Union repeatedly imposed sanctions against Iranian companies, military, and intermediaries involved in supplying weapons to the Russian army.

In January 2026, the EU imposed new restrictions, emphasizing that Iran’s military support for Russia continues and poses a direct threat to European security.

Cooperation works both ways.

According to the US State Department, in response to Iranian military assistance, Russia began offering Tehran an unprecedented level of defense cooperation — in the fields of missiles, electronics, and air defense. The British parliamentary committee also indicated that Moscow is likely helping Iran’s missile program in exchange for support in the war against Ukraine.

On January 17, 2025, Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a twenty-year comprehensive strategic partnership agreement.

The document provides for the development of military and military-technical cooperation, joint exercises, exchange of intelligence information, interaction in energy, finance, and nuclear technologies. It is not a treaty of unconditional mutual defense, but it consolidates the strategic rapprochement between Moscow and Tehran.

For Israel, this is not a distant European problem.

Iran uses Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and other armed formations for attacks on Israel and destabilization of the Middle East region. The European Council directly calls Hamas and Hezbollah part of the system of Iranian-supported terrorist and armed groups.

It turns out to be a vicious circle.

Iran helps Russia destroy Ukrainian cities.

Russia strengthens the regime that arms and finances Israel’s enemies.

Hamas gains political legitimacy in Moscow

Russia does not recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization and has been receiving its leaders at the official level for many years.

Moscow’s behavior after the massacre on October 7, 2023 is particularly telling.

Already on October 26, 2023, less than three weeks after the attack on Israel, a Hamas delegation arrived in Moscow. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially confirmed the visit. Simultaneously, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran was in the Russian capital.

In January 2024, the Russian Foreign Ministry again received a Hamas delegation. Moscow claimed it demanded the release of hostages, including Russian citizens, but the very fact of an official reception after the mass killing of Israelis provided the terrorist organization with an international platform and political legitimacy.

Contacts continued in 2025: a delegation led by Mousa Abu Marzouk again held talks with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov.

There is no confirmed open-source data on direct Russian arms supplies to Hamas.

However, assistance is not only military.

Official meetings, refusal to recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization, diplomatic protection, and providing a Moscow platform allow the group’s leaders to demonstrate that after October 7, they were not in complete international isolation.

Moscow protects Hezbollah too

The situation with Hezbollah is similar.

It was Iran that created and armed this organization for decades, turning it into one of the largest missile threats to Israel.

The Russian Foreign Ministry not only refused to take a tough stance against Hezbollah but also publicly emphasized its resilience.

In October 2024, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that Hezbollah, including its military wing, retained control and demonstrated organization. Simultaneously, Moscow accused Israel and its Western partners of expanding the conflict.

This does not prove direct Russian financing of the organization.

But such rhetoric shows whose side the Kremlin’s political sympathy is on. Instead of unconditionally condemning the group that shelled northern Israel with rockets and drones, Russian officials effectively assessed its combat capability and blamed Israel.

At the same time, strengthening strategic partnership with Iran objectively strengthens the state that finances, arms, and directs Hezbollah.

In the UN, Russia systematically opposes Israel

The assertion that Russia votes against Israel in absolutely all cases would be inaccurate.

But Moscow’s overall line is clear: on international platforms, it systematically supports documents directed against Israel and resists attempts to hold Hamas accountable for the war.

In October 2023, Russia submitted its own draft resolution on Gaza to the UN Security Council. The text condemned violence against civilians, but Hamas was not mentioned at all, despite the massacre on October 7 and the hostage-taking. The project did not receive the necessary number of votes.

In June 2024, Russia was the only member of the Security Council to abstain from voting on Resolution №2735, which supported a ceasefire plan, the release of hostages, and a negotiation process. The other 14 members of the Security Council voted in favor.

Moscow seeks to present itself as a mediator, but its practical actions speak otherwise.

It receives Hamas, cooperates with Iran, politically shields Hezbollah, and uses the UN primarily to pressure Israel and oppose the USA.

This is no longer neutral mediation.

It is part of a broader strategy in which any force capable of weakening the West, Ukraine, or Israel is seen by the Kremlin as a useful partner.

What the sold flag really symbolizes

The Soviet flag that flew to the Moon with Apollo 11 does not remind of the greatness of the USSR.

It reminds of the possibility of dialogue between adversaries.

Buzz Aldrin did not support the Soviet regime. The USA did not abandon competition and did not forget the threat from Moscow. But the American astronaut considered it possible to take the symbol of a rival state on a flight as a sign that there are achievements belonging to all humanity.

In 1975, this gesture continued with a handshake between an American and a Soviet cosmonaut in orbit.

Today, Putin’s Russia offers a completely different symbolic series:

• rockets over Kyiv;
• Iranian drones over Ukrainian cities;
• agreements with a regime threatening Israel’s destruction;
• Hamas delegations in Moscow;
• political shielding of Hezbollah;
• and votes in the UN, where condemning Israel is almost always more important for the Kremlin than condemning the terrorists who attacked it.

For NAnews — Israel News, the story of the flag is important precisely because of this contrast.

Once, even during the Cold War, a small flag could become a sign of respect between rivals.

Putin, with his war against Ukraine, has turned modern Russia into a state that seeks not cooperation, but alliances with dictatorships, terrorist structures, and enemies of Israel.

Buzz Aldrin’s red flag remains an artifact of a lost opportunity.

And today’s Russia chose not a handshake in space, but rockets, terror, and partnership with those who fight against Ukraine and Israel.