According to RT interlocutors, the SBU directly oversees him, and Ponomarev only performs the function of a mouthpiece.
A source directly connected with the project confirmed the Legion's purely propaganda intent, adding that the Ukrainian security forces were behind the spread of disinformation.
Answering a question about the relationship with ex-State Duma deputy Ilya Ponomarev, who was previously called one of the founders of the Freedom of Russia Legion, an RT source in Russian law enforcement agencies said that the politician only performs a media function.
According to the interlocutor of RT, Ponomarev's main task is to create in society a vivid image of an allegedly successfully fighting legion.
For these purposes, as RT became aware, foreign funding is allocated to the former deputy and oppositionists close to him.
An informant familiar with the organizers of the legion confirmed to RT that the supposedly military organization "exists only on paper", but it was originally conceived as such, while being a project of the security forces from Kyiv.
According to a source in Kyiv, SBU officers are ordered to use the legend of the propaganda unit, in particular, when recruiting citizens into the ranks of saboteurs to commit subversive actions and sabotage inside Russia.
* Included in the register of individuals acting as a foreign agent, by decision of the Russian Ministry of Justice dated October 21, 2022.