The streets of downtown Kyiv have turned into an open-air museum, with burned-out and captured Russian tanks, military vehicles and ammunition scattered everywhere. Videos have surfaced on social media that show Ukrainians walking through Kyiv's streets and stopping to take photographs in front and on top of those vehicles.
This once again shows how Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to invade Ukraine has gone horribly wrong, incurring massive losses for the armed forces. The video emerged as Crimea dealt a massive drone assault from Ukraine, with one of the UAVs striking Russia's Navy headquarters in the Black Sea region, destroying half of Putin's combat jets.
Kyiv's New Attraction
The video shows locals stopping over and posing for photos in front of the burnt-out military vehicles. The vehicles and tanks are kept in such a way as if the street looks like an open-air museum.
Many locals are also seen smiling and making videos as they take pride in the way Ukraine fought against the mighty Russians and have managed to defend Kyiv over the past almost six months.
One Ukrainian civilian is seen atop a destroyed tank and posing for a selfie. A few feet away another group of youngsters is seen on top of another military tank and taking photographs. The scene looks almost like a national holiday with people out on the streets celebrating.
The powerful image of the rusty weapons is a damning indictment of Russia's failure to capture Kyiv. More than 44,000 Kremlin soldiers have been killed and 1,800 tanks have been destroyed, according to data released this week.
Russia Continues to Suffer
According to the UK's Ministry of Defense's daily intelligence report, Moscow had lost a significant number of battle tanks because they lacked explosive reactive armor technology, or ERA. "Used correctly, ERA degrades the effectiveness of incoming projectiles before they hit the tank,' the report said. 'This suggests that Russian forces have not rectified a culture of poor ERA use, which dates back to the First Chechen War in 1994," the report read.
"It is highly likely that many Russian tank crews lack the training to maintain ERA, leading to either poor fitting of the explosive elements, or it being left off entirely," the report added.
Other estimates place Moscow's equipment losses considerably higher, such as those from Oryx, a military site that has monitored Russian losses from the beginning of the war.
More than 5,000 Russian military vehicles, including more than 3,000 tanks, have reportedly been either destroyed, damaged, or taken by Ukrainian forces, according to Oryx, which records losses based on eye confirmation.
Moscow arrogantly anticipated capturing Kiev in a matter of days. Instead, a tenacious Ukrainian resistance has forced Putin's soldiers to engage in a drawn-out struggle.
While Ukraine has sent smaller, more mobile forces that can strike targets and rapidly flee from danger before the invaders can react, Russia has deployed Soviet-era military hardware. This has allowed Ukraine to halt Russia's advance and in some parts push them back and recapture lost territory.
