Oleksandr Ponomaryov, member of parliament from OPzZh party, will be tried for treason and collaborationism

The State Bureau of Investigation has completed its investigation into the current member of parliament of Ukraine from the banned party "Opposition Platform — For Life" (OPzZh) — he will be tried for treason (Part 1 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code) and collaborationism (Part 4 of Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code), for which is punishable by up to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property.

The press service of the SBI does not mention the name of the peopleʼs deputy, but from the description of the case it turns out that it is Oleksandr Ponomaryov, who is currently in custody at the pre-trial detention center.

According to the investigation, on the first day of the full-scale invasion of Russia (February 24, 2022), the deputy traveled from Kyiv to occupied Berdyansk, where he established close contacts with the occupation administration. This helped him keep his business and enterprises in the city. His firms in Berdyansk and Crimea quickly established sales to Russians of products used for the production of weapons and armored vehicles.

The deputy stayed in the occupied territory for quite a long time and even received protection from Russians. During cooperation with the aggressors, he traveled to the occupied Crimea and Russia, but later due to conflicts with the invaders, he left for the controlled territory, where he was detained.

• In July 2023, the "Schemes" project released a detailed investigation into Oleksandr Ponomaryovʼs business in Berdyansk and his cooperation with the Russians. He lived in the occupation for half a year, where he re-registered his companies under Russian law and opened accounts in local "branches" of Russian banks. His factories supplied fuel and lubricants for the occupiers and provided them with equipment to build fortifications. Later, the peopleʼs deputy left for Kyiv and continued to coordinate his enterprises from there.
• Ponomaryov was detained in July 2023. Then he was informed of the suspicion under only one article — high treason. On July 25, the deputy was sent to the pre-trial detention center without the right to be released on bail.