Russia will demonstrate captured Western equipment during Victory Day celebrations

A Russian soldier stands in front of a German Marder 1A3 infantry fighting vehicle and a Leopard 2A6 main battle tank. Photo: SERGEY ILNITSKY/Shutterstock < p>Victory Park is an open-air museum in the Russian capital, opened to commemorate the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.

But in recent years it has become a tribute to the Russian invasion to Ukraine. celebrating claimed successes “against Ukrainian militants and their Western supporters.”

The Russian Ministry of Defense said that the new exhibition will feature “equipment and small arms of foreign armies, combat documentation, maps, ideological literature and equipment.”

The exhibition will also feature the Swedish CV90 combat vehicle, the French mini- an AMX-10 tank and a British Saxon armored personnel carrier, donated to Kyiv in 2015.

Russian Soldier looks at a British Mastiff armored car captured in Ukraine. Photo: Getty Images

A correspondent for the Russian military channel Zvezda praised the condition of the captured German-made Marder combat vehicle, saying: “It is in almost perfect condition, but small dents are visible from impacts, probably from FPV [first-person view] drones.”

A similar event took place last year at Patriot Park near Moscow, where Russia also displayed a series of captured Western military equipment likely lost by Ukraine during the summer counter-offensive.

M113 telecom operators on display

The exhibition featured American-made M113 armored personnel carriers, which will also be on display this year, and a serviceable cruise missile.

Kyiv troops lost a number of vehicles stuck in vast Russian minefields. and were eventually abandoned by Ukrainian troops retreating under heavy Russian artillery and drone fire.

The Telegraph cannot confirm whether the equipment on display this year was recently captured.

Ukrainian forces recently withdrew their fleet of Abrams tanks from the front line after five confirmed losses, U.S. officials said.

The Ukrainian 47th Brigade, the only unit fielding U.S. tanks, disputed that claim.< /p> < img src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/05f41b73e80dc186dbe4851d4882a3f5.jpg" /> Russian serviceman guards captured armored vehicles Photo: SERGEY ILNITSKY/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock/Shutterstock

Russian state media filmed the wreckage the video shows what appears to be an Abrams with its tracks torn off and its hull charred, the result of a possible hit by a drone towed behind a Soviet-era tank.

Pro-Kremlin sources suggested it was being taken to Moscow. as part of the celebration.

The tank was reportedly captured after a recent battle near Berdychi, a village west of Avdiivka from which Ukrainian troops withdrew over the weekend.

< p>Ukraine also fielded destroyed Russian tanks in the center of Kyiv, but its troops usually repurpose captured equipment for use on the battlefield.