Serhii Nuzhnenko/Radio Free Europe via Reuters
A Russian-backed separatist leader in Ukraine claims he’s being inundated with requests from museums to send them the burned-out wrecks of Western tanks sent to Kyiv for its battle against the Kremlin.
Denis Pushilin, the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, spoke about the request for hardware destroyed by Russian forces in a TV appearance, according to a state media report Wednesday. He claimed that German-made Leopard tanks are particularly sought after.
“We have a lot of orders—everyone wants Leopards, other equipment for museums,” Pushilin said, according to the TASS news agency. “But I say: ‘Guys, let me move [Ukrainian troops] back. Because right now this equipment is in the gray zone.’” He added that the Western equipment “needs to be shown, needs to be demonstrated,” but that such displays would have to wait for “a little later.”