Russia will display the destroyed military equipment to the embassies of Western countries that supply Ukraine. The idea was raised in the State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament, on Wednesday.
State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Vologin instructed the Parliament’s Defense Committee to discuss the idea with the Ministry of Defense to work out the details of possible exhibitions.
“The proposal to place burning military equipment near the embassies of the countries that sent them to Ukraine is particularly interesting.” Vologin mentioned.
The idea is reminiscent of the actions of Ukraine, which has created a permanent exhibition in Kiev of destroyed military equipment it claims is Russian. Ukraine has also sent burning tanks on a tour to several European cities, including the German capital, Berlin.
These latter efforts backfired spectacularly as the fairs ended earlier than planned after locals repeatedly brought flowers to the tanks.
Ukraine has reportedly suffered heavy losses in equipment shipped from the West over the past month. Several US-made Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and M113 armored personnel carriers were destroyed, as well as their Dutch-made YPR-765 version and German-made Leopard 2 tanks. The losses came as Kiev launched its long-awaited counter-offensive in early June. According to Moscow, the attack did not produce results.
Russia has repeatedly called on the West to stop “pumping” various weapons into Ukraine, warning that this will only prolong hostilities, and will not change their outcome. Senior officials in Moscow have also stressed that supplying increasingly sophisticated weapons to Kiev increases the risk of a direct conflict between Russia and NATO.
