US President Biden refers to 'Ukrainians' as 'Iranians' in his State of the Union speech

During the Ukraine crisis, US President Joe Biden made a gaffe in his State of the Union speech when he incorrectly referred to Ukrainians as "Iranians." Biden made the mistake while speaking about the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. It is worth mentioning that Biden is the oldest man ever elected to the presidency in the United States, at 79 years old.

''Putin may circle Kyiv with tanks, but he'll never gain the hearts and souls of the Iranian people,'' Biden remarked. US Vice President Kamala Harris may be seen behind Biden mouthing the proper word, 'Ukrainian,' shortly after he finishes pronouncing 'Iranian.' The error sparked outrage on social media, with the hashtag 'Iranians' trending after the address.

Take a look at netizens' reaction

Russia-Ukraine war

Biden used the opening 12 minutes of his speech to discuss Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as well as the United States' response. As he began his first State of the Union address, Biden warned Russia that President Vladimir Putin 'has no idea what's coming,' accusing the Russian leader of 'underestimating' western allies and the Ukrainian people. During his speech, the US president announced the closure of US air space to all Russian flights.

The comments came as new blasts shook Kyiv on Tuesday night, after Russia was denounced as 'barbaric' for attacking a TV tower near the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial in Ukraine's capital. On Day 6, the invading Russian soldiers advanced on more towns and cities, notably the southern key ports of Odessa and Mariupol. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine is being waged not only on the ground, but also online.

Further, cyberattacks on state-owned digital assets, such as websites and banking services, have risen in frequency and sophistication over time, starting with distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks and progressing to the employment of complicated wiper malware and ransomware. Moreover, in the last 24 hours, shelling in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv has killed 21 people and injured 112, according to regional governor Oleg Synegubov. Russian missiles reportedly hit the centre of Ukraine's second-largest city, including residential areas and the regional administrative building, according to authorities.

(With inputs from Agencies)

Image: AP