Former Russian State Duma deputy Ilya Ponomaryov has been granted provisional residence permit in Ukraine.

Ponomaryov posted a picture of his Ukrainian residence permit on Instagram, providing it with the commentary in Ukrainian: "Envy me, friends."

Ponomaryov said earlier in an interview with the Focus publication: "I believe Ukraine is the place where I can be more useful than anywhere else. I am investing in the energy sector here."

The State Duma terminated Ponomaryov's parliamentary mandate by a majority of votes on June 10.