Tanks in the park: Russia displays war trophies – News

Moscow displays captured Western war material. For the people, this is proof that they are winning the “battle for existence”.

The man leans against the barrier and raises the phone in the air. She pressed her lips together and kissed him before he took a selfie so he and his partner could see the screen. Behind them is a Ukrainian T-64 tank.

The “Russian Military Trophies” exhibition has been running for more than a month, but thousands still flock to “Victory Park” in western Moscow to see tanks or troop transports allegedly captured on the Ukrainian front.

The vehicles are emblazoned with the flags of several countries: Ukraine, but also the United States and Germany. The message is clear: they all stood against Russia. It is unclear how and where the machines came into Russian possession. Military experts from the West consider the majority to have been captured.

Today is a holiday, “Russia Day”. There are many families. People here see Russia’s war in Ukraine as decisive. A young man says it’s about the existence of Russia.

“Napoleon, Hitler and Today”

“The people of Ukraine are suffering, but soon we will cleanse the country of the filth that oppresses them,” says Evgeny, visiting Victory Park with her daughter Alina.

Russia as a savior who protects only herself and her people – this narrative is used in the exhibition with a small tent roof, under which is a tank from another era. The German Wehrmacht attacked the Soviet Union once in 1942 with mortars. “History repeats itself,” it says on the marquee.

“Every 100 years, Europe unites against Russia and climbs to the roof again in a big way,” says Sasha, looking at Morton, quoting a Russian proverb. “Napoleon, Adolf Hitler, the same today.”

Russian propaganda stories work. But the Kremlin’s actions have had the effect of protecting the population at large from the effects of war and keeping the standard of living high in the big cities. People see themselves in a struggle for survival, but at the same time they believe that this is happening in their favor. Proof of this is seen in trophies.

A lot of secrecy was kept

“Our boys are the best,” says Yevgeny. “If you drag all the military equipment we burned, the whole boulevard wouldn’t be enough.”

Yevgeny reiterates his concern about the suffering in Ukraine. “Many Ukrainian soldiers are simply taken to slaughter. You can see what their graves look like.

What is being kept secret in Victory Park is that no soldiers died in Ukraine before Russia launched its major offensive. How many Russian tanks have been destroyed, how many Russian comrades are already filling the graves. According to a study by the BBC and independent Russian media Mediazona, 120,000 Russian soldiers had already died as of June this year, and they were able to definitively prove that 60,000 had died. At Victory Park, no one noticed that this feature called “special action” was missing.

“NATO weapons are burning and we can defeat them,” observer Vladimir told SRF. “Unlike you in the West, here we see the truth about ‘special action’. The truth is shown here.