Former Russian lawmaker laughs at ‘outdated’ Victory Day parade tank

Putin's poor showing of the military parade, because it's normally a massive show of Russian military might. And today was the day, the parade day, and it was anything but. At one point, you could count it. Just one tank rolled across Red Square, a sign that Putin's warned Ukraine may be taking a serious toll on the military. In past years, this parade was a very different scene, right? Scores of tanks on display, all kinds of flyovers, I mean, hypersonic missiles going by. That's that's what it was. And yet, despite the muted event today, Putin verbally was as defiant as ever, insisting that Russia is the one under attack after he, of course, invaded Ukraine.

A real war is being waged against our country again. But we have countered international terrorism and will defend the people of Donbas and safeguard our security. Out front now, Ilya Ponomarev. He's a former Russian lawmaker who was forced into exile after he was the only Russian lawmaker to vote against Putin's annexation of Crimea in 2014. Ilya, I so much appreciate your time tonight. So when you saw the images today of that, the victory parade, right? And then just, you know, a bunch of military vehicles in that one tank. What did you think? Yeah, and moreover, this tank was T-34, the main Soviet tank during World War So it's a little bit outdated.

They were removed from the production in 1945, immediately after the war. So yeah, basically, it shows that Putin was really scared of the drone attack that happened from May 3rd. He was afraid that it would be repeated on the May 9th. And that's why first he took some hostages. He invited several leaders of the CIA states, this is Central Asian states, to be next to him so that nobody would dare to launch a drone. And secondly, they significantly downsized the parade so it would be shortened time. So you mentioned the drone attack.

And I know that the last time you were on the show, you talked about it. You said that it was the work of Russian partisans. And of course, you know some many in the Russian opposition and Russian partisans. Do you believe that their attack on the Kremlin, you really believe that was the main reason that Putin scaled back the parade? I think so. At least all these discussions, they started immediately after that attack. And after that attack, first, they cancelled the evening reception in the Kremlin. Secondly, two days after that attack, they decided to invite those leaders of Central Asia because Putin was afraid to show up by himself.

So briefly, it was told by Dmitry Peskov, his spokesperson, that Putin would appear by video conferencing the parade. And then he said that he would become an in-person but accompanied with others. So another thing at the parade, the notorious arms dealer Victor Boot, right, had been the most high-profile Russian-serving time in American prison, right, was released in a prisoner swap for Brittany Griner, the U.S. basketball star. He appeared at the parade today. And we're just looking at video of him there today.

What did you think about that, Ilya? What does that mean to you? I think that they are showcasing all the failed spies and different notorious people from across the world that Putin is diligently collecting in Moscow. And that's just a gesture towards the United States. You know, we don't care. But based on the length of the parade, they do care. All right. Well, Ilya, I appreciate it. Thank you so much.

Good to have you back.

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