Why is Russia launching a new module to the space station if it’s pulling out?

[smp]

From Ars Technica:
"The Russian space corporation, Roscosmos, released photos on Monday showing the much-anticipated Nauka space station module enclosed in its payload fairing. This will be Russia's first significant addition to the International Space Station in more than a decade, and it will provide the Russians with their first module dedicated primarily to research. "Nauka" means science in Russian."

https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/06 ... ke-flight/

So that you don't hold your breath too long, there's this:
"... NASA is no longer annually sending hundreds of millions of dollars to Roscosmos to purchase Soyuz seats for access to the station.
The NASA officials suspect Russia may seek "maintenance" funding from the United States in return for keeping its part of the space station going."

smp

[bearnard00]

I`ve heard that Russia and China are gonna build space station on the surface of the Moon. Such kind of news sounds hilarious because the Russian space agency is very weak. It makes fewer launches than Space X per year but they act like they are the most successful space agency in the world

[GCoyote]

You probably heard it here - viewtopic.php?p=141954#p141954

[Ylem]

It does appear they just want something on the ISS to get some maintenance funds I guess.