Activists (in Exile)

Ilya Vladimirovich Ponomarev (born 6 August 1975) is a Russian-Ukrainian politician who was a member of the State Duma from 2007 to 2016.

He was the only member of the State Duma not to vote in favour of the Russian gay propaganda law (he abstained) and to vote against Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March 2014. In 2015, while in the United States, Ponomarev was formally charged with embezzlement, which he called politically motivated. In 2016, he was impeached for not performing his duties, and he went into exile in Ukraine, where he obtained Ukrainian citizenship in 2019.

Following the start of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ponomarev stated that he had joined Ukraine’s Territorial Defense Forces, and he denounced the invasion.

Ponomarev is the author of the book, Does Putin Have to Die?: The Story of How Russia Becomes a Democracy after Losing to Ukraine, released 4 October 2022 by Skyhorse Publishing.

He is one of the original organizers and Executive Council member of the Congress of People’s Deputies, which is a “…transitional parliament established upon the initiative of 59 Russian deputies, of various levels, from the federal to the municipal, to exercise legislative power after the coming final collapse of the regime of Vladimir Putin – who is a usurper of power.” The Congress of People’s Deputies met for the first time in Warsaw in November 2022. A second meeting of the Congress was held in Warsaw on 20–23 February 2023.