A crowd gathers and takes photos next to two huge, partially damaged tanks, a German Leopard and an American Abrams captured in the fields of Ukraine. They are the two jewels in the crown of the display of three dozen captured vehicles that the Russian Ministry of Defense has assembled to excite its citizens in Moscow’s Park Pobedi, the Victory Park, named in honor of the triumph of the USSR in World War II. At present there is no end in sight to the war in Ukraine, and these trophies, along with the capture of Avdiivka and Bakhmut, are the little that the Kremlin can show after a year in which the front has moved a few kilometers. Although for Vladimir Putin it is no small thing: thousands of smiling Russians stand in line to see how their country has wounded, even if only a tank, the devil United States.
“I feel pride. Pride in the Russian army, in the Russian soldiers who destroyed everything,” exclaims Igor, a 52-year-old Moscow native, accompanied by his wife and two children in front of the remains of the M1A1 Abrams that can be seen in the exhibition inaugurated this Wednesday, coinciding with May Day. The tank was abandoned and subsequently captured by invading forces in Berdichi, a village near Avdiivka, this past April. This town, taken after more than two years of war, is 80 long kilometers from the symbolic town of Sloviansk, under Ukrainian control and within the province of Donetsk. Just a decade ago, a group of Russian paramilitaries unleashed the Donbas war there in 2014, but Kremlin forces have failed to control it in their major offensive since 2022.
Some of the seized pieces will be displayed in Moscow’s Red Square during the Victory Day parade on May 9, two days after Putin’s inauguration into his fifth term. However, it is not the first display of its kind in the war. The Ukrainian Government displayed seized or destroyed Russian weapons in kyiv in August 2023 on the occasion of the country’s Independence Day, and in Berlin a destroyed T-72 tank was displayed in front of the Russian Embassy in February of the same year. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have also displayed tanks captured in Ukraine in their capitals, and some members of the Russian minorities in the three Baltic countries have laid flowers on these tanks.
For many Russians, it is not just about Ukraine, but about revenge against Washington, the superpower with which Moscow competed in the past and which it claims to have now stood up to in Eastern Europe. “The main reason for the war is the imperial policy of the United States. He does not care about the interests of another country that wants to maintain an independent policy,” Igor asserts without taking Ukraine itself into account.
“What about Ukraine? All Russians know that Ukraine does not decide anything. In fact, the Ukrainian people do not suffer for the interests of NATO, but for the interests of the United States,” Igor maintains behind his sunglasses with a firm voice, and adds: “We warn you. Putin warned you″, in reference to the Russian president’s rejection of the accession of new countries to NATO, both in the first decade of this century and in 2021.
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It is a sunny holiday and thousands of Russians have taken advantage of this Wednesday to visit the exhibition of war trophies and then stroll through the park. A few meters from the tanks is a Kirpi, a Turkish armored transport. Ankara, a member of NATO, supports Ukraine militarily, while it has become the main tourist destination for Russians by allowing, unlike the European Union, its flights. “Their time will come,” Igor responds with a hint of anger.
Not everyone who has come to the exhibition supports the war; Many of those present, whether they are for or against the invasion, agree that they would end the fighting tomorrow. There is general fatigue.
“All these vehicles have cost a lot,” says Iván, the fictitious name of a 27-year-old young man who responds with a shake of his head when asked if he supports the “special military operation,” the terminology used by the Kremlin. Openly expressing opinions is dangerous; A few weeks ago, a Muscovite who expressed her vision for a street-level report by Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty at the beginning of the conflict was sentenced to five years of hard labor.
“We are trying to live for today while we have that opportunity,” he explains with his colleague Sasha, 25, in front of several Ukrainian cars and armored transports of Soviet origin. The two friends consider it impossible to talk about the future. “People support the military operation, that is my impression,” adds Iván.
“We are tired of wars. And we are sure that our Government also wants to end this, but the United States does not want to, so it continues,” says Ksenia, a 37-year-old Moscow mother who has brought her son and feels “pride and patriotism” in front of Western vehicles. captured. “We think it is a political war, because it benefits those who have dollars,” adds this woman in plural, who has acquaintances on the front, but she avoids talking about it. “I try not to read too much, I just hope the war ends soon.”
Contradictory accusations
The rejection of the United States and the West in general is the mortar of propaganda fed from the Kremlin with contradictory accusations. Putin insists that he seeks to “denazify” Ukraine and accuses Europe of enabling fascism. In the exhibition there is a sign that says “History repeats itself” next to two German vehicles, the Leopard battle tank and a Marder armored vehicle, which are accompanied in the park by some trophies taken from the invading Nazi Germany eighty years ago.
“All this is very sad, the war will continue because of the United States. We live in a civil war. Ukrainians are our brothers and sisters, we are one people. And I am very happy that NATO shit is burning,” says Andrei, a 40-year-old Moscow native. When asked if he is willing to personally go to the front, he responds with the third person plural: “The whole country is ready, if they are called, they will all come.”
However, even Russian nationalists see inconsistencies in Putin’s rhetoric. “In the United States and Europe there is intolerance, but also LGTBI pride and racial minorities. And in Ukraine? Their army is accused of being Nazi, the Aidar and Azov battalions, but at the same time gays and transgender people fight. I can’t say that it is a Nazi country,” Andréi, 21, says sincerely.
The young man walks through the exhibition with a friend and a cap that says “Fuck Stepan Bandera”—a hero in part of Ukraine and an anti-Soviet collaborator with the Nazis. “Ukraine is going in the wrong direction. She wants more Europe, more Europe. And in Europe, sorry for the expression, everything is screwed,” says Andréi, also tired of the war. “I hope everything ends peacefully. That [el presidente ucranio, Volodímir] Zelensky leaves and people stop dying because what is happening now is terrible. I hope it goes away [Joe] Biden and come back [Donald] Trump, we will do better,” he wishes. Even tired of war, he states that he will not hesitate to go to the front if necessary. “If I receive a summons from the recruiting office, I will go convinced. I’m not going to run away, I have everything here; I have my mother, my friends, the memory of my first love.”
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