Russian forces were filmed rolling heavily armored tanks through war-torn Ukraine on Wednesday brandishing Soviet Union Flag. It is not known where exactly the scene was filmed but the long line of tank gives an indication that Russia is gearing up for yet another big attack in one of the Ukrainian cities as the war entered its 14th day.
Meanwhile, British intelligence have claimed that Russia is losing territory in the fight north of Kyiv. Moscow's troops have failed to make "major gains" northwest of Kyiv, according to the UK Ministry of Defense, two weeks after President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
Waiting Soviet Flags
The minute-long video shows a column of tanks, armored personnel carriers, mobile missile launchers, and jeeps moving through a rural road in Ukraine. The video opens with a BMP-2 infantry battle vehicle flying the scarlet red flag of the Soviet Union, the continent-spanning state that fell in 1991 due to political and economic instability and giving way to the modern-day Russian Federation.
The video was posted by Russia's Ministry of Defense and since have been viewed by thousands. However, the ministry didn't give any clear reason behind the tanks and other armored vehicles brandishing the USSR flag.
"The Russian Armed Forces units continue to take control of the Ukrainian regions occupied by nationalists within special military operation," is all that the ministry said alongside the video.
Another photo shared on Twitter also appears to show a Russian tank flying the Soviet flag in Ukraine. However, it wasn't immediately clear when — or in which part of Ukraine — the video was filmed.
Putin's Army Marches Through Ukraine
Despite the fact that the Soviet Union is remembered in the United States for its harsh authoritarian system, human rights violations, and dismal economic conditions, many Russians yearn for the old empire's global might.
Some of that nostalgia could be due to "present frustration over social policies and economic hardship," according to the BBC in 2019. The BBC spoke with sociologist Karina Pipiya, who discovered that nostalgia for the Soviet Union extended to one of its most infamous leaders, Joseph Stalin.
The video clip was released as the Kremlin acknowledged on Wednesday that conscript soldiers had been sent to Ukraine, with some being seized by Ukrainian forces. Putin had promised a day before that no conscripts would be used and that Russian forces would only use professional soldiers.
Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said that "unfortunately there have been detected several instances of the presence of conscript-service military personnel."
Hundreds of civilians have been killed in Russian bombing of places like Kharkiv and Mariupol in the first 14 days of the war, with thousands of residents unable to flee the relentless bombardment. Moreover, beginning Wednesday morning, the Kremlin committed to suspend its attacks to preserve humanitarian corridors linking Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumi, Kharkiv, and Mariupol.
However, reports have emerged that Russia didn't keep its promise and shelled the cities as desperate citizens tried to flee. This included the bombing of a maternity hospital in Mariupol that was destroyed completely killing hundreds of people.
