Australian-made Bushmasters displayed as ‘trophies’ in Moscow

Unverified video shared by Russian channels also purports to show the wreckage of an American-made Abrams main battle tank that was recently captured in fighting near the Ukrainian city of Avdiivka.

A pro-war Russian Telegram channel said it would be “an excellent idea to leave open free space at the exhibition with a sign reading: ‘The wreckage of the first downed F-16 [fighter jet] will soon lie here’.”

A similar event was held last year at Patriot Park near Moscow, where Russia also showcased a series of captured Western military equipment, likely lost by Ukraine during its summer counter-offensive.

Western analysts are downbeat about Ukraine’s chances of driving out Putin’s invading army, despite the recent approval by Washington of the new $US90 billion ($137 billion) aid package for Kyiv.

“Ukraine has no good options, even with the latest aid package,” Eugene Rumer, a former US national intelligence officer, wrote in an article for the Carnegie Endowment think tank.

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“It is now abundantly clear that the size of Russia’s population, economy, stocks of military hardware, and defence-industrial base far exceeds those of Ukraine even when it is supported by the United States, Europe, other allies and partners.”

Last week, Defence Minister Richard Marles travelled to Ukraine, announcing a $100 million support package that includes $30 million towards uncrewed aerial systems and $15 million towards combat helmets, inflatable boats, boots, fire masks and generators.

In Kyiv on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that his armed force’s ability to hold back Russia depended directly on how quickly its forces received military aid.

“Today I don’t see anything positive on this point yet. There are supplies, they have slightly begun, this process needs to be sped up,” he said.

“The Russian army is now trying to take advantage of a situation when we are waiting for supplies from our partners.”

Zelensky met with NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg, who said allies had not delivered what they promised.

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“The lack of ammunition has allowed the Russians to push forward along the front line,” he said. “Lack of air defence has made it possible for more Russian missiles to hit their targets, and the lack of deep strike capabilities has made it possible for the Russians to concentrate more forces.”

General Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of Ukraine’s armed forces, said on Sunday that Kyiv’s outnumbered and outgunned forces had been pushed back from their positions in the eastern Donetsk region. “The situation at the front has worsened,” he wrote on Telegram.

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