Russian tanks destroyed by Ukrainian fighters were on display in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.
In the first days of the war, Russian tanks were featured in social media footage driving through Obolonskyi – just 5 miles from central Kyiv.
Bellingcat investigators also geolocated a Russian tank column outside Brovary, an eastern suburb of Kyiv, in March that was ambushed by Ukrainian forces.
They were repelled. Now the rusted tanks and armored vehicles stand defeated in the city’s central St. Michael’s Square.
People look at a Russian tank and armored vehicles exhibited for public viewing at Saint Michael’s Square May 21, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Hundreds of tanks were destroyed in the early stages of the war. Getty
People look at a Russian tank and armored vehicles exhibited for public viewing at Saint Michael’s Square May 21, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Technical problems plagued Russian tanks. Getty
Yaroslav Trofimov, the Wall Street Journal’s chief foreign affairs correspondent, on Sunday tweeted images of people posing with the tanks on display. “On the 88th day of the war, Russian tanks finally entered Kyiv,” he noted.
Pictures showed people looking at the tanks, taking pictures next to them and even climbing on one of them.
Photos also showed pet goats named Zita and Myra, who had taken an interest in one of the tanks and were seen in numerous photos examining the destroyed vehicle.
Pet goats Zita and Myra interrupt a TV reporter’s program as they explore a wrecked Russian tank and armored vehicles on display for public viewing at Saint Michael’s Square May 21, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Russian forces have focused their efforts on Ukraine’s eastern regions. Getty
Pet goats Zita and Myra explore wrecked Russian tanks and armored vehicles displayed for public viewing at Saint Michael’s Square on May 21, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Russia lost numerous armored vehicles during the war. Getty
Pet goats Zita and Myra explore wrecked Russian tanks and armored vehicles displayed for public viewing at Saint Michael’s Square on May 21, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. The Ukrainian President said the country will not cede any territory to Russia. Getty
Newsweek has reached out to the President of Ukraine’s office for comment.
After Russia’s failed attempts to conquer Ukraine, Moscow has shifted the focus of its war to the eastern separatist regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.
While Vladimir Putin’s election campaign failed to quickly end the war and force the Ukrainian government to surrender, Russian forces managed to assert control of the country’s eastern and southern regions.
The regions controlled by Putin’s army are overwhelmingly Russian-speaking, where pro-Moscow sentiment runs high.
Control of this area gives Putin a land bridge to Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has ruled out a ceasefire or peace deal that would result in it ceding any of its territories to Russia.
Addressing the nation on Saturday, Zelenskyy said diplomacy would end the war and that Russia’s ownership of Ukrainian land was temporary.
Zelensky’s advisor Mykhailo Podolyak added in an interview with Reuters: “The war will not stop (after concessions. It will only pause for some time. They will launch a new offensive, even more, bloody and large-scale.”