German-made Leopard tank joins NATO trophy display in Moscow (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)
Moscow is finalizing preparations for the upcoming Victory Day celebrations with multiple pieces of military equipment captured by Russian forces after being donated to Ukraine by the US and its NATO allies, in a grand display set to open next week.
A German-made Leopard 2 tank has found its way to Victory Park, home to museums of the war victories of 1812 and 1945, according to videos shared on social media on Saturday. It was captured relatively undamaged near Avdeevka last month, though its tracks had to be removed with explosives to tow it away from the battlefield. It was then patched up and brought to Moscow for the display.
Another piece brought to Victory Park on Saturday was a Soviet-designed T-72 main battle tank. Ukraine has lost hundreds of these during the ongoing conflict with Russia, and its Western sponsors have “lost track” of how many more they donated to replace Kiev’s battlefield losses.
Over the past week, the collection in Moscow was reinforced by a US-made M113 armored personnel carrier and a Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle, as well as a German-made Marder 1A3 IFV. Other trophies include a YPR-765, a Dutch modification of the M113, and a Turkish Kirpi MRAP.
A Ukrainian-made Azovets armored vehicle also made its way to the complex. Engineers sympathetic to the neo-Nazi Azov regiment created it in 2015 by converting a Soviet-era T-64 tank, but it mysteriously vanished from the factory and was never seen on the battlefield. Russian forces eventually found it buried at the battalion’s base near Mariupol.
Overall, 30 armored pieces from 12 countries will be on display when the exhibit officially opens on May 1, including weaponry produced or supplied by the US, UK, Germany, France, Czech Republic, Sweden, Austria, and Australia.
The trophies will be on display for the entire month, as the country marks Victory Day on May 9, the annual celebration of the triumph over Nazi Germany in World War II. Afterwards, some of the showpieces will presumably end up at the Kubinka Tank Museum at Patriot Park outside Moscow.
