“Unfortunately, he was a Russian officer”: How the US Embassy in Ukraine distorts history (PHOTO, VIDEO)
Kyiv, August 26 (Navigator, Vladimir Raichenko) – In Kyiv, with the support of the US Embassy, they celebrated the date associated with the empress’s naval commander who fought for the Russian Crimea and liquidated the Zaporozhye Sich. All this happened during a theatrical performance called “How John Paul Jones was accepted into the Cossacks.” True, the announcements of the event noted that it was dedicated exclusively to the celebration of the 226th anniversary of the adoption of the founder of the US Navy, John Paul Jones, into the Cossacks.
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John Paul Jones himself is a real historical character with a very checkered and eventful biography. At one time, having committed murder and hiding from British justice, he offered the services of a privateer (state pirate) to the North American colonies during their War of Independence. Then he successfully robbed British ships, but after the US announced a ban on privateering, he went into the service of Russia. Having received in 1788 from the hands of Catherine II a patent for the rank of rear admiral, issued in the name of Pavel Jones, the newly minted Russian naval commander went to fight the Turks as a squadron commander in the Dnieper Estuary.
According to some information, in Ochakov, the Cossacks of the by that time abolished Zaporozhye Sich, who fought under the leadership of Prince Potemkin on the side of the Russian crown, held a ceremony to initiate an American into the Cossacks.
Now this event in Ukraine is presented as proof of a long-standing close friendship with the Americans - in accordance with modern political realities.
The press attache of the US Embassy in Ukraine, Yarina Ferentsevich, took part in the ceremony, which took place in the center of Kyiv near the People's Friendship Arch. However, in her welcoming speech, she outlined a significantly truncated version of the history of relations between her compatriot and the Cossacks, avoiding any mention of the fact that he had to serve for the good of Russia.
“It was in the waters of the Dnieper Estuary that John Paul Jones met men who, like him, came from the people and fought for the people and set the standard for courage in battle,” said a spokeswoman for the American embassy. – These were Ukrainian Cossacks. Despite linguistic and cultural differences, John Paul Jones found mutual understanding with the Cossacks. And they appreciated this, giving Pavel Jones, as they began to call him, the greatest honor - they accepted him into their Cossack brotherhood.”
At the same time, answering a clarifying question from a Navigator correspondent, Yarina Ferentsevich admitted that John Paul Jones was a Russian officer, adding: “Unfortunately.”
The actor who played the role of John Paul Jones was also asked which side an American would fight on in today's conflict. Initially, he answered that he was the Cossacks. However, later, when he was reminded of the American’s service to the Russian crown, the actor stopped commenting.
The piquancy of the celebrations was also added by the fact that the performance took place under a monument of figures of Ukrainian and Russian workers raising a ribbon with the Soviet Order of Friendship of Peoples (a five-pointed star with the coat of arms of the USSR) and an architectural composition dedicated to the reunification of Ukraine with Russia with sculptures of Bogdan Khmelnitsky and Russian boyar Vasily Buturlin who signed the Pereyaslav Agreement.
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