US Embassy Confuses Pushkin's Name; Russian Foreign Ministry Responds

The US Embassy in Russia issued a congratulatory message on the occasion of the birthday of the great Russian writer Alexander Pushkin, referring to the poet as Ivan for unknown reasons. This situation did not go unnoticed by Maria Zakharova, the Director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry. She addressed the matter during a press briefing on Wednesday, as reported by TASS.

“I couldn't remain silent about the congratulatory message for Pushkin published by the US Embassy. I would like to remind our so-called ‘partners’ in America that Pushkin's name is Alexander Sergeyevich, not Ivan Sergeyevich. Ivan Sergeyevich belongs to Turgenev. Perhaps our highly intellectual friends were referring to Shmelyov? Please tell us, it’s just interesting, but we feel sorry for Pushkin,” Zakharova noted.

The official congratulatory message published on the US Embassy's Telegram channel emphasized that Pushkin was a