Vyacheslav Ponomarev (public figure)

This article is about the self-proclaimed mayor of Sloviansk. For other people, see Vyacheslav Ponomarev.

Vyacheslav Vladimirovich Ponomarev (Russian: Вячеслав Владимирович Пономарёв; born 2 May 1965, in Sloviansk, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic) is a former owner of a soap production company^[1] who in 2014 briefly achieved prominence as the self-proclaimed mayor of the city of Sloviansk, at that time a focal point at the beginning of the 2014 War in Donbas.

Vyacheslav Ponomarev
Ponomarev in Sloviansk, 2014
Mayor of Sloviansk (self-proclaimed)
In office 12 April – 10 June 2014
Personal details
Born	(1965-05-02) 2 May 1965 (age 59) Sloviansk, Donetsk Oblast, Ukrainian SSR (present-day Ukraine)

Ponomarev held the position of 'people's mayor' for around two months, before his arrest, and dismissal. Following the separatists' retreat from Sloviansk, Ponomarev relocated to Moscow, and has since retreated from public life.

Sloviansk 2014

"People's Mayor"

At a time of turbulence in Ukraine following the Euromaidan revolution, and then protests in the country's eastern Donbas, Ponomarev emerged from apparent obscurity, having owned a soap production company, declaring himself mayor after leading an assault on the Sloviansk mayor's office on 14 April 2014, as part of the 2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine.^[2] Ponamarev was a strong opponent of the government of Ukraine that formed in Kyiv after the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, referring to it as fascist, and claiming Ukraine was being run by "Nazis" and "homosexuals".^[2]

In May 2014, Ponomarev stated that he commanded around 2,500 men in the vicinity of Sloviansk.^[1] He is a veteran of the Soviet–Afghan War and served in a "special operations unit" of the Arctic-based Northern Fleet.

Detentions and Disappearance

See also: 2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine and Siege of Sloviansk

Ponomarev's tenure as 'People's Mayor' was noted for a string of detentions. Ponomarev is known to have been personally involved in the following:

• On 25 April 2014, a vehicle with OSCE representatives was stopped and the observers detained by Ponomarev's forces.^[3][4]
• His men held the elected mayor of Sloviansk, Nelya Shtepa, in captivity, though Ponomarev said that his government was protecting her from Ukrainian law enforcement after the Security Service of Ukraine opened a case against her for separatism.^[5][2] He also stated that there was conflict between him and Shtepa, in which she acted "incorrectly". In an interview to Gazeta.ru, Ponomaryov said that she was given protection
• On the direction of Ponomarev, his men detained American Vice News journalist Simon Ostrovsky on 20 April,^[6] who declared after his release that he had been intimidated and beaten during his detention.^[7] According to the journalist, Ponomaryov's men had his photo and were looking for him. According to Ponomaryov, Ostrovsky has dual citizenship and was a spy. In an interview to Gazeta.ru on 23 April, Ponomaryov acknowledged that he had kept Ostrovsky for exchange.^[5] Ostrovsky was released only after the intervention of representatives from OSCE and the United States Department of State.^[3] Ponomaryov told the media that Ostrovsky was not a hostage, but a 'guest', and that he simply 'accommodated Ostrovsky with lodging'.^[3]
• Irma Krat - a Euromaidan activist who had arrived in the city to cover the conflict as an activist, and blogger. Krat was later paraded in front of the press.^[8]

Ponomarev later declared that kidnapping of people is a retaliation for all his detained "comrades".^[3]

• Also, according to the Security Service of Ukraine, on 20 April 2014 Ponomaryov received orders from Igor Girkin to dispose of the body of local representative of Horlivka city council Volodymyr Rybak, who had been kidnapped and tortured to death.

Arrest and Dismissal

Ponomarev had a fractious relationship with Igor Girkin / Strelkov, who was in charge of the military operations of the pro-Russia side in Sloviansk. On 10 June 2014, on Girkin / Strelkov's command, Ponomarev was arrested and taken to the headquarters of the Donbass People's Militia in a former SBU building.^[9][10][11] With charges relating to misappropriation of civic funds, Ponomarev was dismissed from his duties, and Volodymyr Pavlenko was appointed a mayor of Slovyansk.^[11] Ponomarev was then released, and spent the rest of June under house arrest. He was next seen, along with the withdrawing pro-Russian militia, leaving Sloviansk on 5 July 2014.^[11]

After 2014

While many of the pro-Russia side headed for Donetsk, Ponomarev is believed to have gone straight to Moscow, where he left public life. As of 2018, he was reported to be working on a building site in Moscow.^[12]

References

1. "Ukraine revolt shows faces, but whose are the brains?". Reuters. 23 April 2014. Archived from the original on 27 April 2019. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
2. "In the Center of Eastern Ukraine's Separatist Movement, the People's Mayor Speaks Out". Bloomberg Businessweek. 23 April 2014. Archived from the original on 25 April 2014. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
3. Simon Ostrovsky Of Vice Released Into Hands Of CBC in Ukraine Archived 23 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Huffington Post. 24 April 2014
4. "Ukraine crisis: Military observer freed in Sloviansk". BBC News. 27 April 2014. Archived from the original on 27 April 2014. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
5. "You, Obama, would be quiet". Gazeta.ru. 23 April 2014
6. "American Journalist With Vice News Captured in Eastern Ukraine". Mashable. 22 April 2014. Archived from the original on 27 April 2014. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
7. "Simon Ostrovsky on His Kidnapping, Detainment, and Release". VICE News. 28 April 2014. Archived from the original on 21 June 2018. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
8. "У Слов'янську сепаратисти викрали активістку жіночої сотні Майдану | Українська правда". Ukrayinska Pravda. Archived from the original on 25 April 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
9. "Народный мэр" Славянска задержан ополченцами, подтвердили в ДНР Archived 11 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine, RIA Novosty, 11 June 2014.
10. Luke Harding (12 June 2014). "Pro-Russian mayor of Slavyansk sacked and arrested". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 3 November 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
11. Экс-мэр Славянска Пономарев покинул город вместе с ополчением Archived 21 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine, RIA Novosty, 5 July 2014.
12. Реалии, Донбасс. "Убитые и бежавшие: лидеры "русской весны" на Донбассе" [Murdered and Fled: The Leaders of the Russian Spring in Donbass]. Крым.Реалии (in Russian). Archived from the original on 10 September 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2023.