Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has charged Kyiv-based Russian opposition politician Ilya Ponomaryov, a former State Duma deputy who opposed President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, with high treason and participation in a terrorist organization.
Ponomaryov confirmed the charges in a Facebook post on February 4, saying the FSB has “opened several criminal cases, including treason in the form of defection to the side of the enemy [and] participation in calls for terror, all combined into one proceeding.”
“By the way, I have also combined all forms of struggle against Putinism in one proceeding. And something tells me that my efficiency will be higher,” he said in mocking the Kremlin.
A year ago, Ponomaryov, was added to the Interior Ministry's list of alleged terrorists and extremists, a move often used to crack down on political opponents.
Ponomaryov, 48, was the lone lawmaker at the State Duma who voted against Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
He fled Russia for the United States in 2014 and later moved to Ukraine, where he has lived after obtaining citizenship.
His current whereabouts are unclear, but the Facebook post indicated that he was in Berlin.
In August 2022, a court in Moscow issued an arrest warrant for Ponomaryov on a charge of discrediting Russia's armed forces. The charge stemmed from his interview to the Forum of a Free Russia YouTube channel, in which he condemned the war in Ukraine.
The FSB, in its statement, said that "the Investigative Directorate opened and consolidated into a single criminal case” the charges of “high treason in the form of siding with an enemy,” “participation in the activities of an organization recognized as terrorist under Russian laws,” and “public Internet calls for activities aimed against Russia’s security.”
