Moscow: In a bold show of strength, Russian President Vladimir Putin has proudly displayed an exhibition of tanks, APCs and guns captured in the war with Ukraine, including those belonging to the US and Britain, near the World War II museum on Poklonnaya Hill in Moscow. Putin plans to parade the armoured vehicles to glorify the invasion of Ukraine at Moscow’s Red Square Victory Day Parade on May 9 to celebrate Russia’s victory over Nazi Germany in WWII, according to The Independent.
The American and British tanks were displayed to the public under red banners saying, "Our victory is inevitable" at Poklonnaya Hill. The weapons include a British Saxon armoured personnel carrier, an American Bradley tank, a Swedish CV90 and a French-made AMX-10RC armoured fighting vehicle. Notably, the Red Square Victory Day Parade is the most important day for Russians, as Putin casts the fight with Ukraine in the same light as the battle against the Nazis.
Weapons and tanks from nine other countries including Turkey, Sweden, Czechoslovakia, South Africa, Finland, Australia and Australia will also feature in the parade, along with Ukrainian combat documents and "ideological literature", according to the Daily Mail. The exhibition on May 1 was announced after Russian marines reportedly seized a number of Western-made weapons in eastern Ukraine.
Over 3,000 tanks destroyed or damaged
The Russian President used May 9 last year to launch into a fiery 10-minute speech in front of the Kremlin, thundering against “Western global elites” and claiming civilisation was at “a decisive turning point”. Ukraine, which suffered proportionally greater losses than Russia in World War Two, calls it an abuse of shared history to justify aggression.
Over 3,000 tanks have been damaged or destroyed in the two years of fighting after Moscow failed in its initial operation to capture Ukraine's capital Kyiv. Russia lost as many tanks in the Ukraine war as the total number it had in active service across its armed forces before Vladimir Putin launched the invasion, according to reports. Five of the 31 Abram M1A1 tanks, which have been sidelined due to their easy detection, were destroyed by Russian attacks.
A study by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) reveals that the Russian military is urgently increasing defence spending and shifting its economy to a war footing to compensate for the shortage. Meanwhile, it continues to resupply the frontline from its strategic armour stockpiles. However, Ukraine is also ramping up its military arsenal as the US recently approved a defence bill package after months of delays.
Ukraine running out of options
Ukrainian soldiers have struggled as Russia has seized the momentum on the battlefield and gained significant territory. The $61 billion for Ukraine by the US comes as the war-torn country desperately needs new firepower and as Russian President Vladimir Putin has stepped up his attacks.
Ukraine is facing a shortage of ammunition, with vital funding from the US previously blocked by Republicans for months and the European Union failing to deliver munitions on time. This shortage of ammunition, troops and armoured vehicles has allowed Russia to move forward into the country along the 1,000-km front line. Ukraine has also accused Russia of ramping up the use of illegal tear gas to clear trenches.
Kyiv was further dealt a blow when Zelenskyy informed that Ukraine had run out of defensive missiles, due to which it was unable to defend against a Russian attack on the key Trypilska power plant, which left over a million people in the country without electricity. Overnight storms have further threatened Ukraine's fragile power system, cutting power access to several people.
Ukraine's need is now acute, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank. “The Russians are breaking out of positional warfare and beginning to restore manoeuvre to the battlefield because of the delays in the provision of US military assistance to Ukraine,” the ISW said in a recent assessment.
Meanwhile, a Russian strike killed at least two people and wounded six more in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Tuesday. The Russian forces used guided bombs to carry out the attack on the city, according to preliminary information, Governor Oleh Synehubov said on the Telegram messaging app. The attack damaged a residential building in one of the city districts, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov wrote on Telegram.
(with inputs from agencies)
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