• Dozens of destroyed enemy tanks and armor were displayed in Kyiv. 
  • The Ministry of Defense said it is "a reminder to all dictators how their plans may be ruined by a free and courageous nation."
  • President Zelenskyy warned citizens that Russia might plan a major attack to coincide with Independence Day.

Ukrainian officials had held a display of destroyed enemy armor to mock the Russians, who they say intended a victory parade as a show of strength by the Putin regime when it believed it would capture Kyiv quickly.

According to the Ukrainian news site Ukrainian Pravda, the Russians planned a military parade in the Ukrainian capital that they mistakenly believed would fall in three days. The Telegraph reports that some Russian officers were so ready they even had prepared formal uniforms for the event.

Instead, to celebrate Independence Day on August 24, the Ukrainian authorities displayed dozens of burnt-out, captured Russian tanks and military vehicles in two long lines on Khreshchatyk boulevard, Kyiv's main street.

Residents of Kyiv visit the exhibition of destroyed Russian military vehicles on Khreshchatyk street in center of Kyiv, Ukraine, August 20, 2022 Foto: Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Residents of Kyiv visit the exhibition of destroyed Russian military vehicles on Khreshchatyk street in center of Kyiv, Ukraine, August 20, 2022. Foto: Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images

On Saturday, Ukrainian families enjoyed a day out, wandering among the lines of captured armor and inspecting burned-out war machines. Children used them as climbing frames, and people snapped selfies with them. 

Russian military armored vehicles, destroyed by the Ukrainian army, are displayed on the eve of ''Independence Day'' in Kyiv's center on Khreshchatyk Street. Foto: Oleg Pereverzev/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense tweeted a video of the display, saying it is "a reminder to all dictators how their plans may be ruined by a free and courageous nation."

 

Ukrainian Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov tweeted, "The aggressors dreamt of capturing Kyiv in 3 days. The occupiers intended to hold a parade in our capital." They're now in the city as "scrap metal," he wrote.

 

Ukraine's Independence Day on Wednesday commemorates 31 years of freedom from Soviet rule, which also happens to mark six months since Russia began its unprovoked invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned citizens that Russia might plan a major attack to coincide with the celebrations.

"We must all be aware that this week Russia could try to do something particularly ugly, something particularly vicious," Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address on Saturday, per Reuters.

A report from an independent military intelligence group suggested that Russia might be amassing missiles in Belarus in preparation for a major attack on Ukraine.

Belarusian Hajun wrote on Telegram that it had observed a buildup of weapons in the Zyabrovka air base in Belarus by monitoring satellite images.

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