Kyiv marked Ukraine’s independence day today with a sombre tribute to the ongoing war by lining up destroyed Russian weapons in the street.
Ukraine left the Soviet Union to become an independent country on August 24, 1991.
But, amid the bloody Russian invasion which is not expected to end any time soon, celebrations this year were muted.
The city’s mayor has even urged the public to be cautious in case of a missile attack – Kyiv may be far from the frontline but it is still deeply impacted by the war.
However, the country still wanted to mark its independence – so the main street, Khreshchatyk, was filled with stark reminders of the war (and what the troops on the frontline are still fighting for.)
Ukraine’s government toed in dozens of Russian tanks, captured on the battlefield and now the property of the Ukrainian army, along with scattered bits of artillery and armoured personal carriers across the road as though it were a frozen parade.
The display stretched to around half a kilometre of the road.
And, according to the Ukrainian outlet Kyiv Post, there was even an air-to-air missile among the captured weapons which Moscow claims is superior to anything Ukrainian allies in NATO might own.
People had written the names of battlefield towns and occupied cities on the sides of equipment, too. One weapon had the words “no peaceful resolution” inscribed on its side, in Ukrainian.
Some of the weapons were also decorated in yellow and blue ribbons, in honour of the Ukrainian national flag.
The BBC’s James Waterhouse also suggested the display and tribute to independence day suggested Ukraine was using the anniversary to “try and boost the country’s morale”.
Elsewhere, Ukrainian government also claimed its national flag has been raised in the annexed peninsula of Crimea once again, almost a decade after Russia first occupied it.
Ukraine’s former deputy minister for energy and environment Oleksii Riabchyn told Sky News this was a “PR move on Ukrainian independence day” but one which also showed the “vulnerability of Crimea for Putin’s regime”.