{"id":46558,"date":"2018-03-24T19:37:23","date_gmt":"2018-03-24T19:37:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/03\/24\/planned-russian-statue-starts-mini-cold-war-in-american-city\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:54:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:54:03","slug":"planned-russian-statue-starts-mini-cold-war-in-american-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/2018\/03\/24\/planned-russian-statue-starts-mini-cold-war-in-american-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Planned Russian statue starts mini-Cold War in American city"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. \u2014 Back in World War II when the U.S. and Russia were allied against the Nazis, hundreds of Soviet aviators were trained on the North Carolina coast as part of a secret spy project \u2014 but now, an effort to honor their mission has triggered a miniature Cold War in a small American city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Russian Ministry of Defense wants to place a 25-ton bronze monument in Elizabeth City, where the recently declassified \u201cProject Zebra\u201d was carried out. Russia would pay for the 13-foot tall monument, with the city footing the bill for improvements to the as-yet undeveloped park on the Pasquotank River where it would be located.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2018\/03\/24\/what-was-army-basic-training-like-during-world-war-ii\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/basic.png.png?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">What was Army basic training like during World War II?<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">What was basic training like during World War II? Well, it kind of depended on who you were, and what you were training for.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But amid international tensions and fears about Russian hacking of U.S. elections, Elizabeth City elected officials have rejected a memorandum of understanding that was to be the next step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are living in troubled times, and people are very concerned about a lot of things,\u201d council member Anita Hummer said at the meeting where the council voted 5-3 to reject the memorandum. \u201cAnd I realize that it\u2019s about honoring fallen heroes from World War II, and we have Americans who fought in World War II who are buried in Russia. But times were different then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_18072785138744.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-85314\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_18072785138744.jpg.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_18072785138744.jpg.jpg?resize=300,157 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_18072785138744.jpg.jpg?resize=768,402 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_18072785138744.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,536 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A framed description of &#8220;Project Zebra&#8221; hangs on the wall of the Arts of the Albemarle building in Elizabeth City, N.C., on Monday, March 12, 2018. The city council initially OK&#8217;d the Russian-financed monument commemorating the World War II operation, but a new council has declined to sign a memorandum of understanding that would allow the plan to proceed. (Martha Waggoner\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One council member warned the monument could be a Trojan horse. Johnnie Walton worries the Russians could put something in it that could be triggered remotely to disrupt the internet or electrical grid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cRussia is known for hacking now. They\u2019re experts at hacking, and then we\u2019ve got the largest Coast Guard base (that) can\u2019t help anybody because our computers have gone down, because Russia controls our mouse,\u201d Walton said at a committee meeting, according to The Daily Advance of Elizabeth City.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/video\/2018\/03\/19\/inside-swedens-plan-to-mobilize-against-russia\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Sweden.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Inside Sweden&#8217;s plan to mobilize against Russia<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">If you&#039;re a NATO member and you&#039;re attacked, other members will come to your aid. For nonmember Sweden, this doesn&#039;t apply, and so it has plans to mobilize the entire country if attacked by Russia. (Jeff Martin\/Staff)<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A Russian-American joint commission on POWs and MIAs wanted the monument in Elizabeth City because of a top-secret WWII operation at U.S. Coast Guard station there. Declassified just a few years ago, Project Zebra helped train about 300 Soviet aviators. Their mission was to find German submarines and bomb them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One night in 1945, three Russians, a Ukrainian and a Canadian were killed when a seaplane bound for Russia crashed in the Pasquotank River. Their sacrifice was never publicly recognized and the crash was forgotten for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After Project Zebra was declassified in 2013, efforts slowly developed to honor it with a monument, which would include three figures \u2014 one each of Soviet, U.S. and United Kingdom aviators.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/video\/2018\/03\/19\/us-air-force-chief-on-russia\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Russia.jpg_db3903.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">US Air Force chief on Russia<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein shares his view on incidents between Russian and American aircraft. (Jeff Martin\/Staff)<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The previous city council unanimously approved the statue in May 2017. So supporters were caught off-guard by when the new council backtracked and voted nyet in February \u2014 especially because three of the negative votes came from incumbents who had supported it earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Located in northeastern North Carolina near the Virginia border, Elizabeth City was founded in 1793 and has a population of about 18,000. Locals describe the area as progressive in some ways but also fiscally conservative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2013, the local Republican Party challenged an African-American college student\u2019s candidacy for city council. Eventually, the State Board of Election interceded, and the student ran for office and won.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And for what may be the first time, the council\u2019s majority is African-American and so is the mayor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Public discussion has played out along mostly racial lines; four of the five council members who oppose the monument are black, and two of three who support it are white. At one meeting, council member Darius Horton asked the city manager if Elizabeth City has any monuments to minorities or women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Information about the monument didn\u2019t filter to the African-American community as well as it did to the white community, said Hezekiah Brown, one of two citizens who spoke against it. Not that he\u2019s convinced that more information would matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019re at war with Russia still. We\u2019re in a cyberwar here,\u201d Brown said. \u201cThey interfered in our election. And they\u2019ve not said they won\u2019t do it again. &#8230; The war has to end. Then you do something. You don\u2019t do it while you\u2019re at war.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For its part, Russia is sensitive to actions it regards as disrespectful to the Soviet Union\u2019s military campaign against Nazi Germany. In 2007, weeks of cyberattacks shut down websites of government ministries, banks and news media in the former Soviet republic of Estonia amid a dispute with Moscow over plans to relocate a statue of a Red Army soldier in the capital Tallinn. Estonian officials accused Russia of orchestrating the onslaught.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Elected officials in Elizabeth City also are hearing from citizens such as Rick Boyd, who turned in a petition with 569 local signatures supporting the project. He said another 200 people have signed an online petition. The monument offers the two rival nations a chance \u201cto show that we worked together in the past, and that we can work together in the future,\u201d he told the council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mayor Bettie Parker suggested the vote might have turned out differently if it had happened earlier. \u201cI keep hearing now is not the time to deal with anything that\u2019s coming from Russia,\u201d said Parker, who only votes in a tie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Council member Billy Caudle, who supports the monument, says people who are concerned about the appearance of an alliance with Russia are \u201cconfusing current events with history.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Retired U.S. Air Force Gen. Robert Foglesong, chairman of the U.S.-Russia Joint Commission on POW\/MIAs, has asked the city council to reconsider its vote. But for now, the council majority seems steadfast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Members complained at their most recent meeting that the monument debate has divided Elizabeth City and they need to concentrate on more important issues. Walton said he was sick of discussing the monument and recommended that it be erected in Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThose people\u2019s relatives live in Russia,\u201d he said. \u201cGive them the opportunity to ride by on a Sunday, say a prayer, do all the things that people do when you\u2019re memorializing somebody.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Back in World War II when the U.S. and Russia were allied against the Nazis, hundreds of Soviet aviators were trained on the North Carolina coast as part of a secret spy project \u2014 but now, an effort to honor their mission has triggered a miniature Cold War in a small American city.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":85311,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":12,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["news"],"primary_category":"news"},"4":{"categories":["news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"news"},"6":{"categories":["news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"news"},"7":{"categories":["news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"news"}}},"categories":[100,12,25],"tags":[],"coauthors":[5283],"class_list":["post-46558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"6BSMQE5OWBGR5P5BCGJEUGPWLE","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/2018\/03\/24\/planned-russian-statue-starts-mini-cold-war-in-american-city\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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U.S. and Russia were allied against the Nazis, hundreds of Soviet aviators were trained on the North Carolina coast as part of a secret spy project \u2014 but now, an effort to honor their mission has triggered a miniature Cold War in a small American city.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/2018\/03\/24\/planned-russian-statue-starts-mini-cold-war-in-american-city\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Army Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-03-24T19:37:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T03:54:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Martha Waggoner, The Associated Press\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Martha Waggoner, The Associated Press\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. 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