An elite French pilot team accidentally confused the country's flag at a parade in Marseille and in the sky appeared...the Russian tricolor.
Less than 100 days before the start of the Olympic Games, a major ceremony was held in the city to mark the arrival of the Olympic flame in France. It gave the thousands of spectators present the opportunity to admire the talent of the Patrouille de France pilots who flew over the city.
The video of the messed up flag was quickly shared on social media.
According to TF1 INFO, the video is authentic but turned out to be "misleading". The impression that it was the Russian flag was explained by the perspective effect associated with the altitude of the planes.
"Viewed from a sideways position, the planes responsible for dispersing the white smoke appear closer to us, even though they fly only slightly higher in the sky. The countless images taken during the ceremony confirm that the pilots achieved the right effect and the distribution of colors was carried out perfectly, the French journalists wrote, insisting that the planes presented the traditional blue-white-red French flag, not white-blue - the red Russian flag.
At the same time, the material notes that the planes have repeatedly passed over the city. It is not excluded that the pilots corrected their error during the flights that followed the "shoot".
Ironically, the incident comes at a time when relations between Moscow and Paris are extremely strained due to the statements of French President Emmanuel Macron about the possible sending of troops from Western Europe to the area of hostilities in Ukraine.