Vyacheslav Ponomarev

Vyacheslav Vladimirovich Ponomarev (; born 2 May 1965, in Sloviansk) is a former owner of a soap production company Ponamarev was a strong opponent of the government of Ukraine that formed in Kyiv after the Revolution of Dignity, referring to it as "fascist" and claiming Ukraine was being run by "Nazis" and "homosexuals". He is a veteran of the Soviet–Afghan War and served in a special operations unit of the Arctic-based Northern Fleet.

Detentions and disappearances

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 representatives from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) was stopped and the observers detained by Ponomarev's men. 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 (SBU) opened a case against her for separatism. who declared after his release that he had been intimidated and beaten during his detention. According to the journalist, Ponomarev's men had his photo and were looking for him. According to Ponomarev, Ostrovsky has dual citizenship and was a spy. In an interview to Gazeta.Ru on 23 April, Ponomarev acknowledged that he had kept Ostrovsky for exchange. Ostrovsky was released only after the intervention of OSCE representatives and the United States Department of State. Ponomarev told the media that Ostrovsky was not a hostage, but a "guest", and that he simply "accommodated Ostrovsky with lodging".

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

Later life While many of the pro-Russian 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.