Moscow shows off seized Western military equipment
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Russian servicemen are seen in front of a British Husky vehicle during the exhibition of captured equipment at the Patriot Park in Kubinka, outside Moscow, on Aug 15.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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KUBINKA, Russia - In the Moscow region’s Patriot Park, dedicated to the achievements of the Russian army, an officer wearing a green cap stood in front of a captured US MaxxPro armoured vehicle.
“It was abandoned on a battlefield because it stopped working,” the serviceman told Russian state-run agency Tass.
He then turned to a British Husky vehicle, whose windscreen was riddled with what seemed to be bullet holes.
Around him, more Western military equipment was on display, an opportunity for the Russian army to flaunt its achievements and mock the counter-offensive that Ukraine launched in June.
A few metres away, another Russian officer was showing off a French AMX-10 RC and its famously long anti-tank gun.
The collection of “trophies” that AFP journalists saw on Tuesday included an Australian Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle, a US M113 personnel carrier and a Swedish CV90 combat vehicle.
“A large part” of the show consisted of British equipment, including Husky and Mastiff vehicles as well as a Saxon personnel carrier, according to the Defence Ministry press service.
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, who now deals with questions related to the country’s military industry as the deputy head of the Russian security council, visited the exhibition on Wednesday.
“Advanced technologies, that’s worth looking at,” he said while inspecting a military vehicle purportedly from Australia, according to the footage from Russian state-run agency RIA Novosti.
Mr Medvedev also looked at items supposed to show the “ideological indoctrination” of Ukrainian youth, including clothes with national slogans and emblems of the Azov regiment – which is considered an extremist organisation in Russia.
‘Ready to share’
The exhibition also featured Ukrainian-made weapons allegedly seized since the start of the military campaign in February 2022.
Last summer, the Russian army had already presented equipment that it said it brought back from Ukraine.
The display is one of the attractions at the Army-2023 Forum, which runs until Sunday and is being attended by military delegations from countries deemed “friendly” by Moscow.
After the setbacks in 2022 – with the withdrawal from Kherson and the northern Kharkiv region – the Russian army wants to show it has recovered.
Visitors viewing firearms made by Russian weapons manufacturer Kalashnikov at the exhibition in Kubinka Patriot Park on Aug 15, 2023.
PHOTO: AFP
Ukraine launched another counter-offensive in June, but its troops are now contending with well-entrenched Russian positions.
Ukrainian troops’ slow progress
“Ukraine’s military resources are almost exhausted,” Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told an assembly of international military officials on Tuesday.
He said there was “nothing unique” about Western weapons, and that they were not invulnerable to Russian arms on the battlefield.
“We are ready to share assessments of the weaknesses of Western technology,” Mr Shoigu said.
More than 17 months into the offensive, the capabilities of its military-industrial complex are one of the major challenges for the Kremlin.
Mr Shoigu said Russia had succeeded in “strongly” increasing its production of armoured vehicles, despite international sanctions.
However, Western representatives have accused former Soviet Republics, as well as China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, of importing and then exporting to Russia embargoed equipment that could be used to manufacture weapons. AFP
