Zelenskyy trolls, rains on Putin's parade

For years, Vladimir Putin's propaganda machine has used the Soviet victory over Germany in 1945, and its commemoration on May 9, as a symbol of Russia's power and righteousness — and, in a sense, the moral foundation of Putin's authority.

This may have been the year the Russian president's "Victory Day" cult backfired.

Stanislav Kucher, a Russian journalist in exile who now lives in New York, commented on his YouTube stream that if a parade is a symbol of strength, then this was Volodymyr Zelenskyy's parade — and a symbol of Putin's weakness.

With Ukrainian drones regularly hitting military and military-adjacent targets (such as oil refineries) deep inside Russia, the Russian leadership was extremely nervous about an attack on the parade. Putin, who had previously rejected ceasefire offers, asked for a three-day ceasefire using President Donald Trump as his intermediary. The optics were not great: the Russian president was asking the American president to lean on Ukraine's leadership to halt its strikes for the Moscow parade.

Zelenskyy's response — an official order giving his permission to hold the parade Saturday in Red Square — was not only a brilliant bit of trolling; it was also a deliberate humiliation, a fact that wasn't lost on Russian war-hawk bloggers who not only raged at Zelenskyy but openly said that Putin was being treated like a doormat.

The parade itself has been variously described as "muted" or "truncated"; some anti-Putin pundits have used the word "castrated." The usual display of tanks, armored vehicles and ballistic missiles on Red Square was missing, except in video shown on giant screens. Only a few friendly foreign leaders attended, including Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko. The event was about 45 minutes long, half its usual duration. And while Putin's speech struck a belligerent note — "Victory has always been and will be ours" — he looked unhappy and deflated.

What's more, while Putin claimed that Russian forces are continuing to advance in Ukraine, even Russians with very limited media access increasingly understand that this isn't true. Pro-war bloggers generally loyal to the Kremlin are admitting that Russian troops are now losing more ground than they're gaining while suffering massive casualties, while drones and robots are enabling Ukraine to fight effectively despite manpower shortages.

This "parade of shame," as Putin critics have dubbed it, happens at a time when the Kremlin strongman already looks weakened. Intelligence reports speak of extraordinary security measures inspired not only by his fear of Ukrainian retaliation but by fear of a domestic coup. Those measures include curbs on internet access, which are causing popular anger to surge.

There is also growing discontent within the Russian elites, which chafe at Western economic sanctions and international isolation. Many commentators see a sign of the times in the fact that Ilya Remeslo, for years a staunchly pro-Kremlin lawyer and blogger, has turned into a vocal critic who says Putin must go — and drops hints that regime change is near. What's more, he is getting away with it, leading many to believe that he is protected by a faction inside the Kremlin.

Will Putin sue for peace in Ukraine, as he hinted in his post-parade remarks to the press? Could he be ousted? In today's volatile situation, all predictions are foolhardy. But the Trump administration, whose chilly attitude toward Ukraine is based partly on the assumption of Russian strength, would do well to look at the evidence of Russian weakness. Stepped-up support for Ukraine would be the best way to ensure Putin's political demise.

Opinions expressed by Cathy Young, a writer for The Bulwark, are her own.

By Cathy Young

Cathy Young is a writer for The Bulwark.