Freudian slip? Kiev is part of Russia... at least on Le Figaro’s world map

One of France’s most-read papers has depicted Kiev as a Russian city during its filming of the landmark prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine. Kiev was indeed a hub of Rus civilization... many centuries ago.

Le Figaro, like most Western media outlets, has dispatched its reporters to cover the prisoners’ arrival at Kiev’s Boryspil airport – and this is where the geographical gaffe came to light.

The newspaper has released footage showing the Ukrainians disembarking from the government plane with President Volodymyr Zelensky greeting them on the tarmac. Everything indicates that this is Ukraine’s capital, but the caption to the video reads, in French: “Kiev, Russie.”

At the time of writing, the erroneous caption is still visible on Le Figaro’s website. It doesn’t seem to be intentional, as another video by the same news outlet correctly states that Kiev is part of Ukraine.

© Le Figaro

While embarrassing, the gaffe is not entirely wrong if put in historical context. Kiev became a political and cultural hub of the Ancient Rus in the late 9th century, when Eastern Slavic tribes were united.

Ancient chronicles have it that Kiev was even called “the mother of Russian cities,” highlighting its importance over other towns and settlements in the vicinity. Centuries later, Kiev began to prosper as one of the most populous cities of the Russian Empire, before finally becoming the capital of Soviet Ukraine in 1934.

READ MORE: ‘Russians and Ukrainians are one people,’ Putin tells Oliver Stone

Ukraine’s historic ties to its eastern neighbor were a source of other blunders in the past. In February, top US model Emily Ratajkowski raised the ire of Ukrainian fans when she confused a Harper’s Ukraine edition – which printed her photoshoot – with the issue published in Russia.

Eagle-eyed netizens rushed to teach her a geography lesson, prompting her social media team to correct the error.

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