While Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has not progressed as swiftly as the Kremlin once predicted, a recent visit by a group of military students to a Moscow park was a much more swift event.
A sudden snowstorm in early May forced instructors to rush the kids to get to warmer conditions quickly, but they also made time to stop and take photos in front of the captured enemy weapons on display.
Among the biggest loot were M1 Abrams and Leopard tanks, as Ukraine hoped the vaunted American- and German-made fighting machines would help change its fortunes on the battlefield.
They are not.
As two years of war end and the Kremlin’s earlier military failures in Ukraine fade into memory, the mood in Russia is becoming increasingly upbeat.
“The word ‘Victory’ is heard everywhere in Moscow these days,” Valery Hopkins, Russia correspondent for The New York Times, reported recently.
The students’ tour came just three days before Russia celebrates Victory Day, marking the defeat of the Nazis in World War II. But like other Russians out in the cold that day, the students were celebrating their country’s recent military success.
Victory Park was originally built to commemorate Russia’s defeat of Napoleon, and also contains displays of military equipment from World War II.
But what stood out most during the students’ visit were the NATO tanks captured in Ukraine, many of which were Abrams tanks, captured in February after the longtime Ukrainian military stronghold of Avdiivka fell to Russian forces.
“There’s been a lot of discussion about Abrams and Leopards,” marveled one bystander, gazing at the emasculated Western behemoths lying motionless in the Russian snow.
“They’re all standing here,” he said, “and we’re watching them.”
Author: Eric Nagornyy.
