On Thursday, July 23 – ahead of Russia’s Navy Day celebrations and marking the 330th anniversary of the founding of the Russian Navy – diplomats from the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in New York City and members of the clergy honored the memory of Russian sailors buried in New York and laid flowers at their graves.

His Grace, Eastern American Diocesan vicar Bishop Theodosius Manhattan, led the memorial litia at the historic Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY, co-served by Abbot Nicodemus (Balyasnikov), acting chancellor of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA.

In his remarks, Consul General A.G. Markov emphasized that the graves of Russian sailors serve as a reminder of a heroic past and are part of a shared historical memory with the United States. Russia repeatedly came to the aid of the young American state – a fact particularly important to remember and discuss during a significant year for Americans: the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The establishment and preservation of American statehood were defined by the overcoming of two major internal crises: the War of Independence (1775-1783) and the Civil War (1861-1865). At that historical juncture, the Russian Empire’s friendly foreign policy course served as a crucial factor, helping the States emerge from critical situations and facilitating the formation of a sovereign nation.

In August 2019, headstones honoring sailors of the Imperial Russian Navy were installed at Green-Wood Cemetery, funded by the Russian Federation. Their names and burial sites were identified by staff from the Russian Ministry of Defense office responsible for military memorial activities in the United States. The burial sites have been officially registered.

Twelve of the sailors served on the Russian Navy vessels Alexander Nevsky, Peresvet, and Oslyabya (frigates) and the Varyag (corvette "Varangian") as part of Rear Admiral S.S. Lesovsky’s squadron. The Russian government had dispatched this squadron to the Atlantic coast of the United States during the American Civil War. The burials date from 1863-1864.

Another sailor was a crew member of the frigate Svetlana, which arrived in the U.S. in the autumn of 1871 at the invitation of the 18th U.S. President, Ulysses S. Grant.

List of Russian sailors buried at Green-Wood Cemetery:

1. Prokofy Anikaev, 1835 – January 20, 1872, sailor, Imperial Russian Navy frigate Svetlana;
2. Nikolay Borodavkin, 1842 – May 17, 1864, officer of the Engineer-Mechanic Corps, Imperial Russian Navy frigate Alexander Nevsky;
3. Stepan Biliy, 1823 – September 26, 1863, Sailor First-Class, Imperial Russian Navy frigate Alexander Nevsky;
4. Stepan Shipitsyn, 1835 – November 1863, sailor, Imperial Russian Navy frigate Alexander Nevsky;
5. Yakov Ozhimkov, 1823 – March 10, 1864, sailor (junior stoker), Imperial Russian Navy frigate Alexander Nevsky;
6. Indrik Ratik, 1825 – April 17, 1864, 2nd-class sailor, Imperial Russian Navy frigate Alexander Nevsky;
7. Yusup Khalimov, 1830 – April 8, 1864, sailor, Imperial Russian Navy frigate Alexander Nevsky;
8. Feodor Kirilov, 1829 – September 29, 1863, sailor, Imperial Russian Navy screw frigate Peresvet;
9. Petr Poromov, 1825 – December 3, 1863, sailor, Imperial Russian Navy screw frigate Peresvet;
10. Avdei Semenov, 1828 – December 5, 1863, sailor (junior stoker), Imperial Russian Navy screw frigate Peresvet;
11. Ivan Dianov, 1832 – December 11, 1863, sailor (drummer), Imperial Russian Navy screw frigate Peresvet;
12. Ivan Kuznetsov, 1839 – December 6, 1863, sailor, Imperial Russian Navy corvette Varyag;
13. Mikhail Khudobin, 1842 – January 3, 1864, 1st-class sailor, Imperial Russian Navy frigate Oslyabya.

An additional article about the buried Russian sailors can be read on the cemetery’s website here.

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