It is my plan for the transformation of Russia, from its current autocratic state into a democracy. From Putin and Putinism and facism, into a democratic state with a new constitution, new laws, a new judicial system, and free and fair elections.

It will happen like this: The people will revolt, and they will push new leadership and a new form of government into power, while pushing the old elites out.

Yes, what we are talking about is a revolution.

Yes. It is the New Russian Revolution.

Yes.

My history of fighting to make my country a better place goes back a long way. And my family’s history of fighting for a better Russia goes back even further. My great grand-grand-something-father was Michael Speransky, at times the second man in Russia and Napoleon’s friend, who is famous for the creation back in the beginning of the XIX century of the first parliamentary body in Russia - the State Council. My grandfather served as the Russian ambassador to Poland in the early 1980s. Although it cost him his career, he stood up to the leader of the USSR, Leonid Brezhnev, and prevented the Soviet Union from invading Poland. My mother was a member of the Russian Senate until she was removed for making a series of unpopular votes in opposition to Putin.

And then there is my personal history:

I used to be a member of the Russian Parliament or State Duma, where I cast the only vote against the annexation of Crimea in 2014. I also predicted in many TV interviews in the US and Europe and even in Russia and Ukraine that the annexation of Crimea would eventually lead to a full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

In retaliation for all that, Putin forced me into exile and put me on his kill list.

But my history of opposing Putin goes all the way back to 2001, when I became a well-known radical and part of Russia’s opposition movement.

So fighting for a better future for Russia is in my blood, and this fight has been a central focus of mine for almost my entire adult life.

Everything you have said here is true. But it doesn’t offer a complete picture of my history and experience. For instance, before I was elected to the Parliament I had a very successful business career in the oil and gas industry. From there I moved into the technology field. One of the companies I was part of, in 2001 when I was 27 years old, was an interactive TV platform. Our main investor was to be Ted Turner, but he backed out of the investment when Putin began cracking down on other Russian media companies. At that very moment, I swore that I would do everything I could to prevent the state from ever interfering again in my affairs or anyone else’s, and my career in politics was born.

At age thirty-one, I became the Director of Russia’s High Technology Park’s Task Force for the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications. This was during a brief time of positive change in Russia, and we successfully covered Russia with a network of technology parks aimed at fostering innovation, bringing our most talented entrepreneurs back to Russia, and supporting an emerging economy.

At age thirty-two, I was elected to the State Duma and became the chairman of the Innovation and Venture Capital Subcommittee of the Committee for Economic Development and Entrepreneurship—the leading technology policymaker for the Russian state. As a member of Parliament, my district was considered the “Silicon Valley of Russia,” and I spent much of my time while I was in Parliament in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Boston, Austin, New York and Washington DC working with government and tech company leaders to strengthen the relationship between the US and my country during this time of promise in Russia.

After I was forced into exile by Putin, I spent two years living and working in Silicon Valley. Then I moved to Kyiv, another tech and business hub. Just as an aside, my company Trident Acquisitions was the first Ukrainian company ever to go public in the US.

So, yes. I was born and raised in a communist country. But I have spent most of my adult life visiting and studying and then living, and also thriving, in two great nations (the US and Ukraine) where democracy thrives.

I also understand that my background and experiences are as important a part of the Ponomarev Plan as the plan itself. If you want to know more about my background and the plan, you might want to read my book “Does Putin Have to Die?: The Story of How Russia Becomes a Democracy after Losing to Ukraine.”