A former State Duma deputy has been convicted in Dagestan for an anti-Semitic pogrom in Makhachkala
The Supreme Court of Dagestan has sentenced former State Duma deputy Ilya Ponomarev in absentia to 19 years in prison in connection with the anti-Semitic riot at Makhachkala Airport in October 2023.
This was reported by Russian media.
According to court documents, along with Ponomarev, Islamic preacher Israil Akhmednabiev, known as Abu Umar Sasitlinsky, and Abakar Abakarov, whom Russian authorities consider the administrator of the Telegram channel “Morning Dagestan,” were also convicted in absentia in the case regarding the organization of the pogrom. They received 16 and 15 years in prison, respectively.
The court’s press service reported that all three convicted individuals remain on the international wanted list. Earlier, Russian media reported that Abakarov was killed in Turkey in 2025.
“Ponomarev received the longest sentence in the case of organizing the pogrom,” a court representative noted.
Earlier, the Northern Fleet Military Court sentenced a 20-year-old private to prison for setting fire to military equipment in the Murmansk region. The serviceman was found guilty of committing two terrorist acts, for which he will spend the first 4 years in prison and another 11 in a maximum-security penal colony.
