Washington, October 14. The National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum in Florida committed a bizarre act: congratulating the U.S. Navy on its 250th anniversary, it posted an image of the Russian guided-missile cruiser Varyag on the social media site X. The post, which sparked a wave of ridicule, was deleted shortly after publication.

In a post on October 13, the museum wrote:

"Today we celebrate the birthday of the United States Navy - 250 years of courage, bravery and devotion."

The text included a photograph of the Project 1164 Atlant-class Varyag, which has served in the Russian Pacific Fleet since 1983. The error was noticed by Navy veterans and journalists, including The Wall Street Journal correspondent David Brown, who noted:

"This isn't the only blunder: Kingston Mayor Don Hardy congratulated the navy with a photo of a Japanese destroyer, and the official anniversary account used images generated by a neural network."

The scandal erupted amid a series of similar blunders: Republican Senator Jim Boyd of Florida celebrated the holiday with a photo of the cruiser Peter the Great, while Congressman Andy Harris used a photo of Indian ships. The museum did not comment.