
CBS: Russian Lawmaker Opposing Putin Exiled, Stuck in Bay Area
Ilya Ponomarev, the lone figure in Russia’s Duma to vote against Russia’s annexation of the Crimea in 2014, thus opposing Russian President Vladimir Putin, cannot return to his wife and children in his native country after he visited San Jose nine months ago. Putin has effectively barred Ponomarev from returning, as the Russian government accused him of using $750,000 in public funds for his own benefit and he could be arrested if he travels back to Russia.