At least it wasn’t the Canadian Rockies.

Colorado Republican Joe O’Dea launched a new TV ad this weekend in his bid to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet. The 30-second spot describes the construction company owner as “the boss” and lists issues the political newcomer has been hammering on the campaign trail – from cutting the federal deficit and tackling inflation to reducing the crime rate.

The initial version of the ad, released online, however, included a split-second clip of Russian military jets soaring among the clouds as the ad’s narrator says O’Dea is running to “support the police and military.”

The blunder marks a twist on visual mistakes Colorado candidates have made in previous cycles when they featured photographs of out-of-state mountains on brochures and in TV ads, including the time a U.S. Senate candidate described proposing to his future wife on Pikes Peak as an image of Alaska’s Denali loomed in the background. Other Colorado politicians have produced campaign material displaying distinctive views of Alberta’s Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies.

After reporters at Roll Call brought the O’Dea ad’s flub to light on Friday, O’Dea’s campaign was able to swap in stock footage of U.S. fighter jets before the spot made it to air on Saturday, a campaign spokesman told Colorado Politics, but not before Democrats made hay with the goof.

Veronica Yoo, a spokeswoman for Senate Majority PAC, a national Democratic organization aligned with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, said in a statement that the error showed O’Dea is “utterly incompetent and not ready for prime time.”

“Claiming to support our troops over footage of Russian fighter jets is a slap in the face to Colorado veterans, service members, and military families – not to mention the height of political negligence,” Yoo said.

O’Dea campaign spokesman Sage Naumann acknowledged the mistake and then took aim at the Democratic incumbent his boss hopes to face in November.

“This was an error, 100%,” Naumann told Colorado Politics in a text message. “We own that. We also know, however, that voters care a helluva lot more about Michael Bennet voting with Vladimir Putin – an authoritarian thug – when he voted against the bipartisan sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline this year.”

Following his Jan. 13 vote against a Russian sanctions bill sponsored by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Bennet called the defeated legislation “both poorly timed and targeted” and said it would “strain these critical relationships with our European allies and risk ongoing negotiations.” Bennet and Democratic colleagues introduced a bill the same day to impose tougher sanctions on Russia, including on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, but Senate Republicans have blocked consideration of that measure.

Describing the new TV ad, Naumann said O’Dea’s campaign is “focused on drawing a contrast with Michael Bennet” by “telling Joe’s story” and describing the candidate’s vision for America.

A spokesman for the Colorado Democratic Party mocked the O’Dea team’s mistake as emblematic of the Republican’s difficulties connecting with voters.

“Joe O’Dea’s introduction to Coloradans in his primary campaign was promoting the Russian Air Force and opposing a woman’s right to choose,” Nico Delgado told Colorado Politics. “Say what you will about Ron Hanks’ embrace of Trump’s election conspiracies, at least he knows what United States Air Force aircraft looks like.”

O’Dea is running in Colorado’s June primary against state Rep. Ron Hanks, R-Cañon City, a retired military intelligence officer who spent 32 years in the Air Force. Bennet, who is running for a third full term, is unopposed for his party’s nomination.

Hanks told Colorado Politics he is wiling to cut his primary opponent some slack before unloading on O’Dea’s support for the $1.2 trillion infrastructure legislation.

“Every rookie politician makes mistakes like that so I’m not gonna be hard on O’Dea because his hired campaign team doesn’t know the difference between Russian Fulcrums and Flankers and American Hornets and Raptors. But his support for President Biden’s unthinkable multi-trillion dollar omnibus bill, well, that’s an ugly bird that’s gonna come crashing down onto Colorado families at any time and voters need to know that,” Hanks said in a text message.

The O’Dea campaign is spending $250,000 to air the ad in a three-week TV, radio and digital campaign, Fox News Channel reported.

Primary ballots start going in the mail to the bulk of Colorado voters in six weeks. They’re due back to county clerks by 7 p.m. June 28.