Twitter users are roasting the US Navy’s Pacific Fleet for mistakenly posting the outlines of a Russian war vessel and Sukhoi jets in a tweet meant to celebrate the Fourth of July.
The image was tweeted Tuesday by the US Pacific Fleet’s official account. It appeared to show the silhouettes of a Kashin-class destroyer, five Sukhoi-27s, and a saluting soldier against the backdrop of an American flag.
“Happy 4th Of July,” the post read.
The gaffe got even more attention when Blake Herzinger, a research fellow at the United States Studies Center, tweeted a screenshot of the post.
“US Pacific Fleet Don’t Post Russian Ships and Aircraft on Independence Day Challenge 2023: Failed,” Herzinger wrote.
He credited the Reuters editor Gerry Doyle with identifying the fighter jets and the retired Indian Navy Commodore Venugopal Vengalil for identifying the Russian destroyer. India’s navy operates Kashin-class destroyers.
The US Pacific Fleet later deleted its tweet and posted a new photo that featured a US aircraft carrier with the caption: “Land of the Free, Home of the Brave.”
“Happy Independence Day! Celebrating life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for 247 years, and those who stand to protect,” it wrote.
—U.S. Pacific Fleet (@USPacificFleet) July 4, 2023
Twitter users responded to the new post by posting GIFs of Russian soldiers dancing and Russian President Vladimir Putin laughing.
“This is an embarrassment to our country and our nation,” one user wrote.
Others came to the account’s defense. “I make mistakes too, they fixed the issue and gave us a much cooler pic! Happy 4th!” another user said.
The US Pacific Fleet’s public relations office did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours.
Read the original article on Insider