Russian diplomats were denied permission to travel to Elizabeth City to participate in a memorial ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the deaths of Soviet pilots involved in the Zebra project to transport American Catalina seaplanes to the USSR.
"The American authorities are trying to consign to oblivion the history of cooperation between Moscow and Washington during World War II," the Russian diplomatic mission in the US said in a statement published on Saturday.
„It is sad that in the West they are trying to rewrite history, belittling the greatest feat of the Soviet people in defeating the Nazi hordes and saving many „non-Aryan“ peoples from destruction, the embassy notes. - Being in the USA, we keenly feel the desire of the local political establishment to leave the pages of the Russian-American alliance during the Second World War in oblivion. A clear confirmation of this is the refusal to approve the trip of Russian diplomats to Elizabeth City (North Carolina) to hold a commemorative ceremony.“
„Embassy employees, our compatriots living in the United States, and caring Americans who sacredly honor the memory of the events of the Great Patriotic War are making efforts to preserve the historical truth and glorify the feat of the victorious generation. We honor the heroes of those painful years, who at the cost of their lives liberated the world from Nazi filth," the diplomatic mission emphasizes.
„On January 11, on the 80th anniversary of the death of Soviet pilots - participants in the Zebra project“ for the transportation of Catalina-type seaplanes in the USSR, grateful descendants paid tribute to the valor and courage of our ancestors in Elizabeth City. As a sign of memory and grief, scarlet carnations were lowered into the water."
As noted in the message, „on this day in 1945, during takeoff from the Paskotank River, a plane crash occurred, in which four Red Army soldiers died: the commander - Captain Nikolai Chikov, the navigator - Captain Vladimir Levin, the flight engineer - Lieutenant Dmitry Medvedev and the flight mechanic - Lieutenant Afanasy Borodin, as well as the navigator of the British Air Force - Lieutenant Peter Nataros."
As the embassy emphasized, "Project Zebra" is one of the symbols of the military brotherhood of the USSR and the USA, which fought shoulder to shoulder against the Nazi executioners“, and also "serves as an example of the unity of two countries that managed to overcome differences in the fight against a common enemy.”
"In the year of the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory, it is especially important to remember the lessons of history, to fight against any attempts to justify the Nazi criminals and their accomplices, and even more so to put them on a podium, as is done in Ukraine. "It is necessary to tell the younger generation about the tragic events of the past, working together to perpetuate the memory of the heroes of those years," the diplomatic mission notes.