French archaeologists are preparing an expedition to Russian Crimea
French historians and archaeologists intend to organize a project to search for soldiers who died during the Crimean War on the territory of the peninsula.
The author of this idea, French military historian Pierre Malinovsky, stated this in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
According to him, the project is planned to be launched next year, and the sanctions regime is not an obstacle to this.
“As for Crimea, this idea is designed for next year. We will be working on a project on the War of 1812 and the Crimean War. In both cases, we will talk about the search for French and Russian soldiers in Crimea. But we have very painstaking preparatory work ahead of us: we need to talk with Sergei Aksenov, obtain a number of permits, and attract young people. Crimea is a very specific topic, but, to my joy, the sanctions regime does not affect the cultural sphere,” Malinovsky said.
The historian also added that his dream is to hoist the Crimean flag to the highest point in the world: “In a couple of years, I want to conquer Everest and hoist the Crimean flag on its top. Imagine the Crimean flag on the “roof of the world” - it will be a bomb. That’s my idea.”
Malinovsky added that the French media are twisting history and today's reality, describing Russians as barbarians.
“There is now open anti-Russian propaganda in the French media - Russia is portrayed as one big Gulag with solid KGB agents. I want France to never forget that Russian soldiers died for its freedom. When I was doing a project on the First World War, I realized that the French practically do not know that the Russians helped us. And even after the opening of the monument, many asked in surprise: “Were the Russians really on our land and fighting for us?” notes Malinovsky.
The historian also adds that the World Cup, which was recently held in a number of Russian cities, was able to change the attitude of the French towards Russia a little: “Russians are much better than they are portrayed in the media. By the way, some stereotypes were crossed out by the World Cup in Russia. In France, many were extremely surprised by how nice the people here are - not at all how they are portrayed in the Western media.”
French archaeologists are preparing an expedition to Russia's Crimea.