Downtown Kyiv has been turned into a massive open-air museum.
The government of Ukraine set up a display of Russian assets - captured tanks, crippled
military trucks, and broken artillery pieces through Kyiv’s city center on Saturday.
This is kind of a mock “parade” ahead of Ukrainian Independence Day.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense tweeted, along with a video showing scores of disabled vehicles.
"In February, Russians were planning a parade in downtown Kyiv. 6 months into the large-scale
war the shameful display of rusty Russian metal is a reminder to all dictators how their
plans may be ruined by a free and courageous nation"
In this video Defense Updates analyzes how Ukraine has managed to embarrass Russia with
a parade in Kyiv?
Let's get started.
The video, along with others posted to social media Saturday, showed Ukrainians atop the
seized Russian assets and snapping selfies.
Cyclist Evgen Vorobiov narrated his trip along Khreschatyk, Kyiv’s main street, lined with
official buildings and high-end shops, as he passed the burned-out equipment.
“It’s really fun to watch,” he said.
“Russians wanted to get to the center of Kyiv with these loads of military vehicles,
and they sort of have managed to — but probably not in the condition that they had expected.”
“Russians finally have their military parade in downtown Kyiv,” journalist Oleksiy Sorokin
posted.
“Yet, there’s a catch…”
Ukraine's Defense Minister stated in a Tweet, "The delusional 🇷🇺 arrogantly invaded
🇺🇦. I saw for myself the ceremonial uniforms in their tanks.
The aggressors dreamt of capturing Kyiv in 3 days.
The occupiers intended to hold a parade in our capital.
Ok, they're here.
Tons of scrap metal.
Buy nicotine patches, occupants!"
While Russia has captured a significant amount of territory, the conflict is taking a toll.
As per Oryx, a project that records independently verifiable losses throughout the conflict,
Russian losses include 970 tanks, 514 Armored Fighting Vehicles, 1035 Infantry Fighting
Vehicles, 142 Armored Personnel Carriers, 68 Surface-To-Air Missile Systems, 51 aircraft,
around 50 Helicopters, and more than 100 UAV
Russia has not only lost a massive amount of equipment but also men.
The U.S. believes 75,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or injured in Ukraine, with
over 80% of Putin's land forces 'bogged down and tired'.'
Several leaders including generals have been killed too.
It is no secret that Russia went for a quick strike on Kyiv and would have wanted a swift
takeover But this has not happened and the conflict
is dragging on with no end in sight.
Russian trouble started when they totally misread the situation on two counts.
First, they underestimated the strength of Ukraine’s armed forces which has made significant
progress in terms of training and equipment with the help of the West since the capture
of Crimea in 2014.
Secondly, the Russian intelligence community failed to gauge the willingness of civilians
to resist the Russian forces.
The fact is that Ukrainians from all walks of life have been supporting their country's
soldiers in whatever way possible.
Ukrainian officials is using this parade to needle Kremlin and also showcase to the West
that their support to Ukraine is not going in vain.