German astronaut Matthias Maurer could watch the war in Ukraine from the International Space Station ISS. He has spent the last six months there, says Bild.

"I saw perfectly well what was happening on the ground from space," the 52-year-old ARD television astronaut said.

In the first days of the war, he managed to see the bruises. He saw a flash over Kiev at night. That's when he realized missiles had hit, the publication writes.

"During the day, huge columns of black smoke hung over cities like Mariupol, clearly visible to the naked eye from space," he added.

There were no arguments on the space station because of the war, he said.

"We are a close-knit team. It became clear very quickly that we all agree - we all think terrible things are happening in Ukraine," Maurer said.

Maurer returned to Earth about two weeks ago after six months on the ISS. He was the 600th man and the twelfth German in space.