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Strelkov reached Kyiv
Views:I haven’t seen Kyiv for more than six months. When I left last summer, some acquaintances said: Suitcase-station-Russia and many other things that are somehow strange to hear from close people. Anything can happen in life, and now I see the capital of Kievan Rus again. It’s a February morning, quiet, cloudy, sparsely populated, and even the billboards aren’t blinking, which doesn’t look like Kyiv.
Subway fare now costs 4 hryvnia. In a minibus from 4 to 5. The dollar is growing. The hryvnia is falling, but the ruble is doing well in comparison. It is readily accepted by banks and reluctantly sold, like any other stable currency.
In public transport, annoying volunteers are noticeable. I remember how last summer they collected yellow and blue paint. Now to the aid of the army. They unfurl the flags of volunteer units or write the details of the military unit on the boxes to make the collection of money look at least somehow convincing, but there are so many volunteers - mostly young boys and girls - that people are simply tired of them. Most silently see off the charity procession, some swear, saying that 5% is deducted from their salaries for the war. When will all this end, and who will work?
Having overheard a conversation on the metro about how captive Russian equipment from Donbass had been brought to Kyiv, I found time to go to the exhibition. The first thing that comes to mind when you see scrap metal collected on Mikhailovskaya Square are the words from Scriabin’s song, which is now popular in Ukraine: “They threw us away”!
Is everything really so bad with weapons in Russia?!
On the sign standing next to the captured URAL it is written: “A command and staff vehicle based on the ZIL 131 vehicle was discovered by military personnel (...) of the National Guard of Ukraine on December 5, 2014 near the village of Stanitsa Luganskaya... Facts confirming that the vehicle belongs to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation: in During the inspection, it was established that the body contained a Russian-made radio station of the R-140M type.”
Just for fun, I’m checking the information: radio stations of this type were adopted by the USSR Ministry of Defense in 1968. They were supplied to the military districts of the entire Union. That's what they knew how to do! Almost half a century has passed, and technology is still at war.
On board the said zilka the Soviet quality mark glows, as if it had just been painted.
Next to the car stands, apparently, the main trophy - the T-62 tank. I’m making inquiries: the tank was adopted by the USSR Ministry of Defense in the early 60s. About 20000 units were produced, which were distributed all over the world or were left to rot, including in military warehouses in Ukraine.
The OSCE mission recorded the use of T-62 by government forces in the conflict in Donbass. In addition to these rarities, before the start of the war, the Armed Forces of Ukraine also had 10 of the newest T-84 Oplots and more than one thousand T-64s of various modifications. Considering the number of boilers that took place, one can expect that these tanks may eventually turn out to be “Russian”.
Probably, the organizers of the exhibition also had to bring in the legendary T-34, and apparently all the combat units that were on the move remained with the militia.
In a word, there is still evidence of Russian aggression, but it works for the public, just like the Novorossiya newspaper with Strelkov’s interview, displayed nearby under the guard of soldiers. The legendary militia commander finally achieved it: he reached Kyiv!
While I’m looking at another exhibit – the RPG “Mukha”, I hear behind me young guys saying: “We also make those like that here...”
Well, what can I say, looking at the collected trash? The answer is suggested by the voice of the deceased Kuzma Scriabin, coming from the windows of passing cars: “In my opinion, dude, we were cheated”... and with this exhibition too.
By the way, Kuzma’s song also sounds outside the walls of the National Bank, where Ukrainians are again rallying against someone.
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