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Russian Fleet Off Florida Coast
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Overview
Russian Fleet Off Florida Coast refers to events and memes surrounding an incident in which a flotilla of Russian naval vessels, including one nuclear-powered submarine, was spotted close to the coast of Florida in June 2024 as the fleet was headed to Havana, Cuba. As news of the event spread online, many memes expressed concern about the Russian military movement and the possibility of conflict while also joking about the stereotypical aggressive nature of Floridians and what they might do.
Background
In the summer of 2024, Russia conducted a series of naval exercises around the world. One contingent of Russian ships, reportedly including a nuclear-powered submarine and a missile frigate sailed to Cuba and the port of Havana in order to prepare for the drills. The ships passed unusually close to Florida on their way to Cuba but never left International waters entirely.[1] The U.S. Navy appeared to shadow the fleet, sending out its own ships and planes to the area of the ocean where the fleet sailed.[2]
Developments
On Wednesday, June 12th, 2024, it was reported that the Russian ships had arrived in Havana, Cuba without notable incidents or events.[7]
Online Reactions
Following the fleet's arrival on June 12th, 2024, meme makers created posts commenting on possible Floridian reactions. For example, X / Twitter user @MidnightMitch (seen below) posted on June 12th about people from Florida trying to shoot the submarine with their personal weapons, receiving over 46,000 likes in one day.[3]
Also on June 12th, X user @ArmedJ0y made a similar post imagining a fake Facebook event for submarine-shooting (seen below), receiving over 21,000 likes in one day.[4]
On TikTok, users reported seeing American military activity in Florida, with some users misidentifying American planes as Russian ones, including TikToker @instantexpert (seen below, left) who earned over 115,000 likes and 2.7 million views in three days for posting footage of a family by a beach watching warplanes fly by on June 10th, 2024.[5]
TikToker @ctm.tyty also posted a video on June 11th about Florida being "over" due to the Russian warships and other problems in the state (such as the weather and shark attacks), receiving over 10,000 likes and 78,000 views in the course of two days (seen below, right).[6]
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7378676610196606250
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7379324299183656235
Various Examples
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7379750172001111339
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7379100848305163566
Search Interest
Unavailable.
External References
[1] Yahoo – Russian Fleet
[2] Newsweek – US Navy Shadowing
[3] X – @MidnightMitch
[5] TikTok – @instantexpert/
[7] Military.com – Russian Flotilla Off Florida Coast Sparks Deployment of US Navy Destroyers, Planes
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