Ex-Russian MP probed over attempted coup
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has opened a criminal case against former State Duma MP Ilya Ponomarev, accusing him of plotting a coup and forming a terrorist organization. The announcement was made by the agency in a press statement earlier on Wednesday.
Ponomarev began serving as a State Duma MP in 2007 but fled Russia in 2014 amid embezzlement accusations. A year later, he was stripped of parliamentary immunity when Russia's Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against him, accusing Ponomarev of stealing 22 million rubles ($241,000) from the Skolkovo research center. He was placed on the federal wanted list.
Since leaving Russia, the former MP has been a radical opponent of the Russian government and a self-styled representative of the 'Russian resistance'. He moved to Ukraine, where he obtained citizenship in 2019, and has repeatedly called on Russian citizens to join Kiev's forces and violently seize power in Russia. Last year, the FSB launched a criminal case against the former lawmaker on charges of terrorism and treason.
The new case against Ponomarev was opened in connection with his ties to the Congress of People's Deputies (CPD), a Polish-based group whose aim is 'a violent seizure of power and change of the constitutional order in the Russian Federation,' according to the FSB. The agency says the former lawmaker has described the group, which he founded in 2022, as 'the new government of Russia in exile.' In footage accompanying the FSB statement, which features a number of interviews with Ponomarev, the former MP himself calls his organization Russia's 'proto-parliament.'
According to the security service, Ponomarev has been working on getting the CPD recognized as the legitimate power in Russia by the Ramstein group, a bloc of Western nations supporting Kiev in the conflict with Moscow, also known as the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG). The FSB stated that the CPD has attracted over 60 former Russian politicians to its ranks since its inception, while developing and adopting more than 30 normative acts, such as the Constitution of the 'New Russia', as well as acts 'On the Transitional Parliament' and 'On the Resistance Movement', which are all illegal under Russian law.
The FSB alleges that Ponomarev's plans involve seizing power in Russia by force. In order to accomplish this, the former lawmaker has been collaborating with one of Kiev's paramilitary units, which is considered a terrorist group in Russia, the FSB stated. The agency did not mention the name of the unit in its statement but accompanied it with footage of Ponomarev taking part in activities of the 'Russian Freedom Legion', a Ukrainian paramilitary association that has been officially recognized as a terrorist organization by Russia's Supreme Court.
The FSB opened a criminal case against Ponomarev on two charges – 'Violent Seizure of Power or Violent Retention of Power' and 'Organization of a Terrorist Community and Participation in It'. He is facing up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
The former lawmaker has authored a book titled 'Does Putin have to Die?', in which he puts himself forward as a candidate for interim leader of Russia. In footage provided by the FSB, one of his supporters claims that Ponomarev 'personally urged' them to 'physically eliminate Putin.'
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