Western tanks and military equipment captured by Russian forces in Ukraine were displayed in Moscow on Wednesday in an exhibition that the Russian army said showed that Western aid would not prevent its victory in the war.
Long lines of people formed on a sunny May 1 public holiday at the entrance to the exhibition, titled “Russian Army Trophies,” which is being held outside a museum celebrating the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany. in 1945.
On Thursday (2), a working day in Russia, the exhibition was attended by a large number of visitors.
“History is repeating itself,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement, adding that the Soviet Union in 1943 also held an exhibition of captured tanks and equipment, in this case from the German army.
“The strength is in the truth. It has always been like that. In 1943 and today. These war trophies reflect our strength. The more there are, the stronger we will be,” the ministry said, predicting a Russian victory in what it officially calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.
“No Western military equipment will change the situation on the battlefield,” the statement added.
According to Western and Ukrainian critics, much of Russia's military equipment is old or obsolete, and gains on the Russian battlefield have resulted from sheer numerical strength and high casualties. Both sides keep the number of deaths and injuries secret, but it is known that they suffered heavy losses.
The display in Moscow, which includes American, German and French tanks supplied to Ukraine, came days after the US approved a $61 billion aid package for Kiev and after Russia made some quick but gradual territorial gains in the eastern Ukraine, at a time when Kiev's forces say they lack ammunition and manpower.
Ukraine, whose President Volodymyr Zelensky says will eventually expel Russian forces from its soil, held a similar exhibition along Kiev's central boulevard last summer, featuring burned-out hulls of Russian tanks and combat vehicles.
Russia, says the International Institute for Strategic Studies, has lost more than three thousand tanks in Ukraine, which is equivalent to its entire active pre-war inventory, but has a sufficient number of lower quality armored vehicles in storage for years of replacement and claims to be increasing production of new tanks.
In addition to the tanks, British and Australian armored vehicles seized in Ukraine are on display in Moscow, along with military equipment manufactured in Turkey, Sweden, Austria, Finland, South Africa and the Czech Republic.
State TV channel Channel One said the highlight of the show was a captured American M1 Abrams main battle tank, which it said was neutralized by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine using a guided rocket and kamikaze drones.
Source: CNN Brasil
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