Pro-Western group calls for assassination campaign in Russia
Ex-Duma MP Ilya Ponomarev claims 5,000 determined fighters are enough to seize power in the country | A former Russian State Duma MP has claimed that he will pressure NATO leaders to assassinate members of President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle and overthrow the Russian government, The Times reported on Wednesday. ● The British newspaper spoke to Ilya Ponomarev, a self-styled representative of the “Russian resistance.” He outlined his plan to submit a document during the 75th NATO summit in Washington next month that justifies the use of force against those close to Putin. ● Ponomarev, who lives in exile and claims that some serving Russian MPs are part of his movement, told The Times that the term ‘combatant’ should cover “government officials who organize or finance the war [with Ukraine], businessmen who produce arms, propaganda warmongers.” The targeted assassination of such people on Russian soil would then be legal, he argued. ● The former politician claims to speak on behalf of Kiev-backed militant forces that staged incursions into Russian regions bordering Ukraine before the Russian presidential election in March. The groups also claimed credit for the murders of military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky and journalist Darya Dugina.
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