Dmytro Bondarenko: The Last Parade Is Evidence Of The Agony Of The Putin Regime
3- 12.05.2026, 8:24
- 3,734
Russia has no tanks left.
The May 9 parade in Moscow was one of the shortest in history. It practically lacked military equipment, missiles, and had few troops. Why is Putin forced to abandon the main components of the most significant propaganda event for the Russian Federation?" This question was answered by the website Charter97.org was answered by the coordinator of the civil campaign "European Belarus" Dmitry Bondarenko:
- I agree with you, it was indeed a pathetic spectacle and one can say that in fact this parade is evidence of the agony of Putin's regime.
I grew up in the USSR and so I have seen a lot of parades, but there has never been such squalor. I was especially impressed when a gray-haired old man in a limousine drove around the parade route. Then this old man in a civilian suit, part-time Defense Minister Belousov, went up to the podium and made a report to another old man in civilian clothes. I think that all the military - former and active - just spat, because it was a nonsense: why organize a parade if it was turned into some kind of official action?
Why was there no equipment? Fear. Fear that there will be Ukrainian strikes. Or maybe there is no equipment there anymore. We know that T-64s were burned in Ukraine back in 2024, and recently we have not seen any Russian armored vehicles at all. Maybe there are some tanks left there, on which metal wickets have been welded, but it is not nice to send them to this parade.
The Soviet Union collapsed when it had a lot of equipment. I myself was an enlisted soldier in the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSVG) and saw tens of thousands of armored vehicles and automobiles on exercises there. Now Putin has nothing.
We remember the famous Armata tank, which was called the best in the world from the podium of the Mausoleum, but it symbolically stalled right at the parade. No Armata was seen on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Putin is probably afraid of the parade participants themselves, so the very passage of these units near a group of comrades who stood on the podium took only 10 minutes. And that's still with the North Koreans and the passage of several airplanes. The military who participated in the parade are those who have passed all the checks, they seem to be trustworthy. But Putin is still afraid.
- In recent months in Russia in general they often talk about the possibility of a military or palace coup...
- Lukashenko's and Putin's regimes are closely linked, we see that what is happening in Russia is very similar to what happened in Belarus. For example, even before 2020, Lukashenko started blocking the most popular independent websites, first of all Charter'97, putting pressure on journalists. There is only one reason for this. Since 2001, as evidenced by former state sociologist Korshunov's data on closed polls of the Academy of Sciences, the dictator has not won a single election. And by 2020, he lost even the support he had and became "Sasha 3%." His propaganda resources simply could not compete with independent media on the Internet. The special services slept through the emergence of popular Youtube and Telegram bloggers.
In Russia, we see similar processes today. The blocking of the Internet and the attempt to shut down Telegram is, on the one hand, a fear of Ukrainian missiles and drones, and on the other hand, a recognition that the Kremlin has completely lost the information battle on the Web. Even pro-government bloggers criticize it. Remember, in Belarus, Khrushchev's propagandist in 2020 became part of Babariko's team, just like many comrades from BT who today are trying to teach us about life.
The rats are fleeing the ship. We saw it in Belarus, we see it in Russia. However, these defectors should not be called opinion leaders. This is just evidence of the collapse of the regime.
- In such circumstances, international support is very important for Putin. But there were almost no guests from other countries at the parade. Why?
- A German philosopher used to say: push him who is falling. International players realize that Putin today is not just a lame duck, but a sign of trouble. Maduro, for example, was at the last parade, and now he has been arrested and is awaiting trial in the U.S.
-Russia has not been a superpower for a long time. If the USSR was the second economy of the world, albeit a "socialist" one, then the Russian economy today in absolute figures is in 11th place in the world. The country is experiencing a demographic catastrophe. Instead of somehow solving this problem, it is destroying its own able-bodied population, primarily men. Hundreds of thousands killed, more than a million wounded, people with PTSD, contusions, amputations. This can hardly be called economic recovery. The world understands this very well.
Twenty years ago, when there was still hope for normal development, Putin held parades, and he was visited by top officials from all over the world. Today we have what we have: Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Laos... Even Pashinyan refused to go, although last year he was at the parade, despite the fact that he was angry with Putin after the loss of Karabakh. This is also a demonstration of real attitude towards Russia.
- Besides the rulers of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, there was also Lukashenko. He came even without an invitation. Not only that, he was clearly treated in a humiliating manner by the Russian authorities. What made him come to Moscow?
- Well, how could he not come? A year ago they were talking about some miracle in the Belarusian economy, but it's held on only one thing: the Russian Federation allowed Lukashenko not to repay his debts a few years ago.
Putin's regime directly supports Lukashenko. Credits, loans are not repaid in any way at all. How can Lukashenko not go to Moscow in this situation? It is simply impossible. He cannot not go, but, on the other hand, he gloats somewhere, seeing Putin's failure. I know that he was often criticized in Moscow for his inability to sort out Belarus, to restore order. Now he sees what Putin has reached and rejoices at this disgrace on May 9 - it is noticeable even by gestures and facial expressions.
- You speak about the collapse of Putin's regime. What should we, the Belarusians, prepare for in this situation?
- We all understand perfectly well that if it were not for geographical proximity to Russia, Lukashenko's regime would not exist long ago, and we would live in a normal free country. Belarusians don't want to be in any alliances with this dangerous decaying empire, trying to fight and harm its neighbors. We also realize that the agony of Putin's regime opens opportunities for us. The older generation, which saw the collapse of the USSR, sees that the end of the Russian Federation is near. That's why it's time for Belarusians to wake up slowly.
We should prepare for the change of power and not just wait for this change, but actively participate in it. It is not necessary to hope for swindlers, swindlers and impostors. We should rely on our friends and associates, on the people who took to the streets in 2020, created backyard communities, participated in strikes, and openly called for protests. Belarus has enough leaders at different levels. There are people like Nikolai Statkevich, Ales Bialiatski, Evgeny Afnagel, Natalya Radina.... There is a recently released Anjay Pochobut. These people have a great responsibility, but everyone should prepare changes.
Today, all Belarusians have the opportunity to take part in the change of power and become this power, because in our country there will inevitably be new parliamentary elections under the Constitution of 1994. If the post of president remains, there will be elections of a new president, direct elections of mayors of cities. This will all happen in a fairly close time.
Some people will be able to realize themselves in the new state structures, some in business, some in the humanitarian and cultural sphere.
Of course, we need to work to ensure that we have international allies, strong ones who would support us at a crucial moment. We have such allies, we are not alone today in opposing dictatorship. We are part of the world's forces of good, which, despite everything, are winning.
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