Russia-Ukraine war: Russian astronauts threaten to leave trapped US man

Russia's space agency seemingly threatened to leave an American astronaut aboard the International Space Station. Photo / NASA

Russia's space agency has seemingly threatened to leave an American astronaut trapped on the International Space Station, after spending nearly a year on board with two Russian astronauts.

The man, 55-year-old Mark Vand Hei from Texas, is scheduled to land back on Earth on March 30.

An eerie video posted on official channels showed Russian astronauts waving him goodbye as they shut the doors on the ISS while upbeat music played in the background.

Russian media outlet RIA Novosti claimed the now unavailable video was a joke.

"The Roscosmos television studio jokingly demonstrated the possibility of Russia withdrawing from the ISS project – the undocking of the Russian segment of the station, without which the American part of the project cannot exist," the publication was quoted as saying.

But Van Hei's mother wasn't seeing the funny side, labelling the video a "terrible threat".

"When I first heard it I did a lot of crying. It's very troubling. We are just doing a lot of praying," she said.

"It is really a shame that it's been politicised like this. It's quite a shock. His wife, Julie, is very worried in Texas. It's very hard for her right now."

The video appeared to be in retaliation of Western sanctions against Russia.