The Absentee Ballot
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| Did Russia Really Stake Arctic Claim? Lights...camera...action. Instead of James Cameron issuing those commands, it was apparently Vladimir Putin calling the shots. According to the Italian newspaper, Il Corriere della Sera, the images of the two mini-subs planting the white, red and blue flag in the Arctic ocean floor were fake. The footage that was proudly spread around the world last week, after the Russian explorers returned from their Arctic conquest, wasn't taken by the Russians. Instead, the images were lifted from the movie 'Titanic'. It wasn't the world-wide media that uncovered the Russian TV's blatant deception. It was a 13 year-old Finnish fan of the movie who discovered the elaborate Russian ruse. Upon watching the report, he promptly called the newspaper, Ilta-Sanomat, and told reporters that the photos depicting the Russian mini-subs were actually taken from the first part of the epic film. In turn, the newspaper contacted the University of Tampere to investigate whether the boy was on to something. After researching the boy's claim, the university confirmed that the boy was right. Even more confounding than the elaborate deception carried out by the Russians is their non-denial. The public relations director of the pro-Russian network that aired the footage, Yulija Papilova, admitted that the Oceanographic Institute of Russia had supplied the network with the images from the Arctic voyage. Apparently, the Russians were so eager and proud to share their "achievement" that they used a movie as evidence to bolster their mission but was there even a mission? With these photos and their official account of their voyage, the Kremlin has inspired a race from Canada and Denmark to the United States that otherwise might not have taken off so quickly and so fiercely. Article translated from Il Corriere della Sera (scroll down) |
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