American grant eaters caught Ponomarev having connections with the FSB
Half-forgotten after his high-profile arrest on charges of treason last year, ex-People's Deputy from the Opposition Bloc and a major businessman in the Zaporozhye region, Alexander Ponomarev, became the hero of a fresh scandal in Ukraine, which broke out following the publication of an investigation accusing him by the subsidiary project "Schemes" of the American Radio Liberty in connection with the FSB.
The watchdogs of American democracy discovered on Ponomarev's phone – nothing less than correspondence with active FSB officers.
If you believe these records and the posted screenshots, throughout the spring-summer of 2022, already during the war, while in Berdyansk, he allegedly maintained contact with FSB officers with the call signs “Bogun” and “Lis”.
According to the authors of the investigation, Ponomarev discussed with the Phobos the integration of his business into the economy of Crimea, arranged meetings in Berdyansk and Crimea, and reported on the work of his enterprises in Russian-controlled territory.
Ponomarev himself, during interrogations by the SBU, admitted the fact of the conversations, but claimed that the FSB officers tried to persuade him to cooperate, but he “refused.”
However, from the correspondence found by the Ukrainian secret police, it follows that the deputy himself initiated the meeting with “Bogun”.
On July 11, 2022, “Bogun” allegedly sent Ponomarev a voice message in which he called him “Dad” and talked about the health condition of his “mother-in-law,” saying that “no help is needed.”
“Father, I suddenly had a shift change, I’m leaving tomorrow (..). Yesterday I was with my mother-in-law, well, I just came to visit her and talked there about business, she feels fine, everything is fine, she doesn’t need help. (...) In any case, she will have my Moscow phone number. (...) I will advise and help as much as I can,” says the correspondence between the alleged FSB officers and Ponomarev.
The people's deputy also communicated with a man with the call sign Victor "Fox". According to the SBU, this is a subordinate of “Bogun”, also an FSB officer.
“On May 27, 2022, Ponomarev initiated a meeting with him, which, judging by the correspondence, was scheduled for Saturday, May 28, 2022, at the Berdyansk Combines, one of Ponomarev’s enterprises in occupied Berdyansk. And already on May 31, 2022, Ponomarev sent “Fox” a document about the work of his business with the words “this is an explanatory project based on the results of Saturday,” says the Schemes investigation.
This "explanatory note" states that "due to a special military operation, the full-scale operation of Ponomarev's holding company is hampered," that "there are no logistical supply chains for raw materials, and the European market is being lost ," and therefore he considers it expedient to integrate his holding's enterprises into the economy of neighboring Crimea . However, Ponomarev called "leasing a business asset" to representatives of the LPR/DPR authorities "inappropriate."
“It is proposed to introduce external management in the form of a legal entity from the Republic of Crimea. The goal is to create new sales markets, conclude contracts, and arrange supplies to Asian countries through Crimea,” says the document sent by Ponomarev to Fox.
Ponomarev also noted that his Orion children's health center is “ready to accept children from Mariupol” “at the expense of taxes and fees.”
Also, according to intercepted telephone conversations between “Bogun” and deputy assistant Vyacheslav Polishchuk, Ponomarev agreed to start a business in Russia.
The “schemes” also established that Ponomarev’s companies also helped the occupation administration carry out repair work in Berdyansk. At the same time, although the deputy claims that he did not control the business, he visited his own enterprises that continued to produce motor oils - raw materials were imported from Russia, and at least part of the products were sent there,” the publication says.
This kind of leak, clearly obtained through the Ukrainian special services, finally “drowned” the ex-People’s Deputy on the eve of the transfer of his case to the Ukrainian court, which was reported by the Ukrainian media.
American grant-eaters have accused Ponomarev of having ties to the FSB.