A new case has been opened against former State Duma deputy Ilya Ponomarev for incitement to terrorism.

Investigators have opened a criminal case against former State Duma deputy from Novosibirsk Region, Ilya Ponomarev. This was reported by TASS.

The case for incitement to terrorism (part 2, article 205.2 of the Criminal Code) was opened over a video address he made in support of the “Russian Volunteer Corps,” which is banned in Russia. The Russian news agency has not provided any further details.

In September last year, a court sentenced Ilya Ponomarev in absentia to ten years in a penal colony on charges of spreading “fake news” about the military motivated by hatred (para. “d,” part 2, article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) and incitement to terrorism.

The “military fakes” case against Ponomarev was opened over two broadcasts of the “Free Russia Forum,” as well as an interview with Nastoyashchee Vremya (Current Time TV) titled: “Putin will be killed.”

The investigation saw incitement to terrorism in an interview on Freedom channel, where the former deputy talked about “the legitimacy of various people’s actions aimed at setting fire to military commissariats and cars displaying the Z symbol.”

In August 2022, Ponomarev was arrested in absentia for allegedly spreading “fakes” about the Russian army, and in October, was added again to the wanted list. That same month, the politician was added to the “foreign agents” register.

In 2023, the Prosecutor General’s Office designated the “Congress of People’s Deputies” held in Poland—initiated by Ilya Ponomarev—as an “undesirable organisation.” In September of the same year, it became known that a criminal case had been launched against the politician for activities linked to an “undesirable” organisation (article 284.1 of the Criminal Code).

In February 2024, it emerged that another criminal case had been opened against Ponomarev on charges of state treason (article 275 of the Criminal Code), participation in terrorist organisation activities (part 2, article 205.5 of the Criminal Code), and incitement to terrorism (article 205.2 of the Criminal Code). As TASS notes, if found guilty on all these charges in Russia, the former State Duma deputy faces a potential life sentence.