Moscow, Dec 16 (IANS): Astronauts found damage to the outer skin of the instrument-assembly compartment of the Russian spacecraft Soyuz MS-22 that is docked to the International Space Station (ISS).

The crew on Thursday reported that the warning device of the spaceship's diagnostic system went off, indicating a pressure drop in the cooling system, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a statement by Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos.

After a visual inspection confirmed the leak, the planned extravehicular activities by crew members of the Russian segment of the ISS, Sergei Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin, were canceled, it said.

Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina, using a camera on a manipulator mounted on the Nauka multifunctional laboratory module, photographed and filmed the outer surface of the Soyuz MS-22 and transmitted the data back to Earth for study.

Currently, all systems of the ISS and the spaceship are operating normally and the crew is safe, Roscosmos said, adding that a decision will be made on further actions after specialists analyze the situation.

The Soyuz MS-22 manned spacecraft blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on September 21, taking Prokopyev, Petelin and a NASA astronaut to the ISS for a six-month stay in orbit.