Russia Displays War Trophies from Ukraine Conflict in Moscow: Impact on Western Nations

• Geert Groot free

  Russian reporter

In Moscow, thousands of people, many with children, used their free Labor Day to marvel at Russia’s war trophies. These were captured on the battlefield in Ukraine and are now being used in Moscow. Dozens of Western tanks, armored vehicles and other weapons are on display for a month in Victory Park, a large exhibition center dedicated to World War II.

Much of the equipment has previously been on display elsewhere, including Patriot Park, a Russian military display complex outside Moscow. The war trophies on display have been collected since 2022 with the aim of showing them to a wider domestic audience.

This new show closely matches what Russians have been seeing on television every day for years. There is no disagreement in the Russian news, but it simply shows how the Russian soldiers in their ‘special military campaign’ in Ukraine are systematically gaining ground against their opponent, often called ‘Ukrainian Nationals’.

We also went to see for ourselves and spoke to Russians about what they think of the show:

Official loss figures were not given for a long time. It is not mentioned, based on credible sources, that material losses on the Russian side are also significant.

The presented equipment is certainly also intended to be a signal to Western countries that provide military support to Ukraine or are planning to do so. It is not without reason that the German Leopard tank – next to the American Abrams – is one of the exhibits at the exhibition in Moscow.

Especially for the occasion, the barrel of the tank was pressed down in the evening before using heavy weight on a crane, to give the machine a less ‘beneficial’ appearance. This should show that even the most expensive and best tools in the West are not invincible and cannot prevent Russia from gaining victory.

Also on display are weapons provided to Ukraine by other NATO member states, such as Turkey, Great Britain, France, Sweden and the Netherlands.

An American M113 armored vehicle, seized in the Bachmut region in January this year, is part of a batch of modified M113s supplied to the Ukrainian armed forces by the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. last year

‘History repeating itself’ seems to be the motto of this show. The text appears on a roof where a German armored vehicle from 1942 is standing. The connection with the present is quickly made, as is evident from conversations with visitors to the exhibition. Just like then, German tanks are in Moscow again.

In 1945, the flags and weapons of the German Wehrmacht were brought to Moscow, after a brutal war in which approximately 27 million Soviet citizens lost their lives. The effects of that war can be seen to this day in Russia and other Soviet republics, including Ukraine. There are almost no families that did not lose grandparents, great-grandparents or other relatives in that war.

That is why the exhibition in Moscow coincides with Victory Day on May 9, the most important holiday in Russia. The suggestion is that Russia’s current ‘special military operation’ is a sequel to the Great Patriotic War, as the Second World War is called here. Just like then, the country is under threat from the west. Something that had happened earlier, in 1812, with Napoleon. It is no coincidence that the Victory Park is near the place where Napoleon looked down on the Russian capital that year.

This display of war trophies and Vladimir Putin’s military parade on Red Square on May 9 both aim to show the country and the world that Russia can hold its own militarily and not they can lose the battle in Ukraine.

In the meantime, May 9th is awaited with some anxiety on both sides of the front. While Ukraine fears an attempt by the Russian military to achieve a major military success before that date, Moscow is very wary of Ukrainian efforts to disrupt that holiday — or Putin’s inauguration. two days earlier, for example with the attack on the Crimean bridge.

Russia hopes to make more territorial gains while the Western aid that was promised to Ukraine has not yet reached the front. Defense Minister Shoigu said this week during a visit to a command center in southern Russia that Russian troops must quickly get more and better equipment to maintain the “necessary pace” of Russia’s offensive. up