I think putin's destruction of the Ukraine is far too raw, far too 'current events'.

Maybe an anonymous-ized, current RosCosmos head, omit the invasion. Some kind of ordinary accident and how he copes as Roscosmos head minus 'equipment' (Of course surgeons save the penis.). I think Russians are just macho enough to give him a hard time. So lots of drama there.

Minus testosterone, his formerly unknown feminine tendencies start to emerge (*). Forcing him to leave. Russia is (often violently) anti-LGBT-etc.

NASA looks promising, since knows how the Russian bits of ISS work. NASA prides itself on diversity, so he will fit in/be accepted. (Conveniently ignore putin's declaration to leave the ISS. Or, it's a Big Plot thing.)

And with all this, he finds "getting his plumbing switched" is inevitable and semi-urgent.

First crisis at ISS/NASA/ESA, from current events: One of the Soyuz return capsules is leaking. Not air, but something else. We can get everybody on board back Home - but there is now zero redundancy in return capsules. Leaving ISS unoccupied is unattractive as it needs (I think) continuous on-board maintenance. One thought is to send an un-crewed return capsule.
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Disclosure: I knew a Russian family, and took 2-3 years of Russian in high-school and college. This was circa 1970.
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(*) Similar happened to me. Some years back I "suddenly" went vegan. Only in looking back could I see some of the nudges and experiences that led me to veganism. So please feel free to use similar 'looking backs' for your character.