In North Carolina, they refused to erect a monument to the dead Soviet pilots

Authorities in the city of Elizabeth, North Carolina, refused to erect a monument to Soviet pilots who died while transporting amphibians in the USSR during World War II.

Photo: twitter / @ RusEmbUSA

According to the agency Associated Press, referenced by RBCThe initial installation of the 25-ton monument was approved by the authorities in May 2017. The monument is dedicated to Soviet pilots who studied in the United States as part of the so-called Zebra project, which became known only in the 2013 year after the declassification of documents. In particular, the monument was to perpetuate the death of four Soviet pilots (three Russians and one Ukrainian) and one Canadian. The tragedy occurred on the Pascuotank River: in the year 1945 a “flying boat” crashed.

The costs for the manufacture and installation of the monument were borne by the Russian side, the landscaping was American. However, as a result of the new vote, five members of the city council of Elizabeth opposed the installation of the monument, and three supported, four of the opponents were African Americans, and two of the three supporters of the installation were white, so the issue of installing the monument became racial. In particular, as the local radio station WUNC reports, the question was raised that while the city is planning to install the monument “Russian,” there is not a single monument to an “African American woman.” However, the main circumstance that prevented the previously reached agreements was the deterioration of Russian-American relations. “I understand that it is about honoring the memory of heroes who fell during the Second World War, and there are American soldiers who fought in this war and are buried in Russia. But times have changed now, ”said city council member Anita Hammer.

At the same time, 500 local residents signed an online petition in defense of the monument.

As the ABC News, the installation of the monument wanted to do the Ministry of Defense of Russia. In February, the Russian embassy in Washington announced the appearance of a monument to Elizabeth.

As part of Operation Zebra from 1944 to 1945, the year of the year in the USSR more than 160 of American Catalina seaplanes were delivered. At the aerodrome at Elizabeth, Soviet pilots studied and received cars before transporting them to the USSR. In total, 11 Soviet citizens were killed during the flight of the aircraft.

Recall that yesterday, March 26, it became known that the US authorities made a decision send Russian diplomats from 60and also to close the Russian consulate in Seattle. Such a decision on the consulate was made due to its territorial proximity to the military base of submarines, the plant of the corporation Boeing in Seattle, Wash., and in response to Russia's use of military-type chemical weapons in Britain.

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