Reporting on the concert marking the 26th anniversary of John Paul II pontificate, BBC made an important mistake:
16 October, 2004In Russia there are two choirs bearing the same name of Red Army Choir. One is indeed the army choir. The other, however, is an ensemble of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, established in 1939 as the Ensemble of the NKVD. The concert in the Vatican was given by the NKVD Ensemble (see also here). The BBC text refers to the Alexandrov Ensemble, which is the original Red Army Choir.
Pope John Paul II has marked his 26th year as head of the Roman Catholic Church by attending a concert given by Russia's Red Army Choir. [...]
On the stage, bathed in red light, the choir founded 70 years ago by soldiers who took part in the Bolshevik revolution sang traditional Russian songs in full dress military uniform. [...]
[The Pope] seemed delighted [...]
29 January 2021, Correction
I have to correct the post. The BBC reported correctly that the Red Army Choir visited the Pope JPII in October 2004. The Choir of the Ministry for Internal Affairs came to the Vatican at the end of the 1980s. This, however, makes John Paul II look even worse.
The BBC report does not mention the Red Army Choir's last song of their Vatican performance, which was "Oka". Oka is the anthem of the Polish Communist First Division formed in the Soviet Union in 1943.
