Ukraine’s counter-offensive is showing enormous success. Russian troops have withdrawn from most of the Kharkiv region – apparently leaving military equipment behind in the process. The Russian troops are met with ridicule online.
In five days, the Ukrainian military has retaken more territory than Russian soldiers have controlled since April. While the Ukrainian successes are publicly celebrated as the biggest counter-offensive since World War II, the Russian troops are getting a lot of ridicule on social media.
The Russian world chess champion Garry Kasparov said with amusement: “Latest joke: Russia may have been excluded from the Olympic Games, but their soldiers are showing excellent results in the Ukrainian triathlon in the disciplines of swimming, horseback riding and running!” Kasparov had been from the beginning of the war critical of the Russian attacks.
There are many comments, especially from the Ukrainian side. When they pulled out of most of the Kharkiv region in the east of the country, the Russians are said to have left many of their weapons behind – this is suggested by pictures and videos on social media. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry posted footage of abandoned Russian tanks.
In the video, a man, believed to be a Ukrainian soldier, poked fun at it: “Any Ukrainian soldier can get their own Russian tank. What a bonus. Look how they just ran away.” The Ministry of Defense further noted sardonically: “Russia is trying to maintain its status as the largest supplier of military supplies to the Ukrainian army.”
The fact that the Russian troops left behind large quantities of weapons and military equipment is confirmed not only by the recordings, but also by experts such as Sergej Sumlenny, an Eastern Europe expert at the Heinrich Böll Foundation. “The number of Ukrainian tanks has increased thanks to Russian ‘supply’,” Sumlenny said on Twitter. The Ukrainian correspondent Denis Trubetskoy also writes ironically on Twotter: “The arms deliveries from Russia to Ukraine are remarkable these days. Keep it up.”
The advisor to the Ukrainian Interior Minister, Anton Gerashchenko, also jokes about the tanks left behind: “Today our military in Izyum received the first loans from Russia.” He continues: “The Russian soldiers fled so quickly that they left half their equipment behind .” It is not yet possible to say how large the quantities of weapons and military equipment left behind really are. Reliable information has not yet been provided.
Gerashchenko also makes fun of Russian President Putin. On Twitter he posted a photo montage showing Putin and his Defense Minister Sergei Koigu at a “Security Council meeting”. So Putin is with the quote “What is actually happening at the front? seen while Koigu replies “The Great Retreat”.
The FOCUS Online partner remind.me switches you automatically to the best provider every year and that 100% free of charge (advertisement)
