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Former Russian lawmaker fighting for Ukraine says he thinks Putin’s days are numbered because ‘no dictator can survive after losing the war’
Sophia Ankel – April 14, 2022
- A Russian politician who was ousted in 2016 is fighting alongside Ukrainian forces.
- Ilya Ponomarev told CNN Wednesday that he believed Putin’s days in power were numbered.
- He called Putin a dictator and said he was confident Ukrainian forces “will prevail.”
A former Russian lawmaker fighting for Ukraine told CNN Wednesday he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s days were numbered because “no dictator can survive after losing the war.”
Ilya Ponomarev has been living in Kyiv, Ukraine, since 2016 after he was ousted by the Russian parliament. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the former politician took up arms and joined the Ukrainian forces.
Speaking from Kyiv, Ponomarev told CNN he decided to fight alongside Ukrainian troops because he wanted “to defend humanity and Europe.” His role in the forces was unclear.
“No dictator can survive after losing the war,” Ponomarev said of Putin, adding that the Russian leader “has no way how he can win the war.”
“Putin will try to claim a certain victory — an imaginary victory — on May 9. I am absolutely certain about this, but the reality is that he is losing the war,” he added. “I think that the Ukrainian army and the Ukrainian people will not stop before Ukrainian territory will be free”
You can watch the full interview here:
May 9, otherwise known as Victory Day, is a major holiday in Russia that commemorates the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945 and is usually marked with a huge military parade in front of the Kremlin.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said last month that Russian troops were being told the war must end on May 9.
Western officials say Putin will want to have control of the Donbass and other eastern regions of Ukraine by that date, according to CNN.
Ponomarev, who has opposed Putin in the past, was a member of the Russian parliament from 2007 to 2016, Reuters reported. In 2014, he became the only member of the parliament to vote against annexing Crimea.
He was impeached for not performing his duties in 2016 and moved to Kyiv, according to the Russian news agency TAAS.