Konstantin Ponomarev

A Moscow resident and entrepreneur. On 27 April 2015, a criminal case was initiated against Ponomarev on charges of tax evasion. On 6 June 2017, cases were opened for knowingly false denunciation and fraud, and Ponomarev was detained. On 9 July 2019, he was sentenced to eight years in a general-regime penal colony in the case concerning false denunciation. On 9 December 2020, in the cases of tax evasion and fraud, he was sentenced, by partial aggregation of sentences, to ten years and two months.

Human rights defenders consider his prosecution to be punishment for attempting to profit from the energy supply of Crimea and a signal to entrepreneurs not to seek recovery of their funds through the courts. On 4 July 2024, due to changes in legislation, his sentence was reduced by two years. However, by that time a new case against Ponomarev — concerning the misappropriation of bank promissory notes — was already under consideration in court. In September 2025, taking into account his previous sentences, he was sentenced to 14 years in a strict-regime penal colony.

Thereafter, the prosecution appealed the sentence, seeking Ponomarev’s release from serving the sentence on the grounds of the expiry of the limitation period. On 23 January 2026, the court of appeal upheld the sentence but released Ponomarev from punishment. However, another case was initiated against him — for giving a bribe to a public official. His lawyer, Roman Eronov, is also a defendant in the case. According to the investigation, they participated in a bribery scheme intended to secure Ponomarev’s deployment to the war.