Pro-Kremlin blogger who helped frame Navalny lands in jail after criticizing Putin

Ilya Remeslo, previously known as a staunch Kremlin supporter and a longtime adversary of Alexei Navalny—he even claimed credit for the fraud charges filed against Navalny—made a dramatic U-turn. On March 17, he published a lengthy post on his Telegram channel harshly criticizing Vladimir Putin, calling the war in Ukraine "absolutely deadlocked" and damaging to Russia's economy. He also blamed Putin personally for his prolonged grip on power and corruption, accusing him of "not wanting to hear his voters." The post concluded: "Vladimir Putin must resign and be put on trial as a war criminal and a thief."

On March 18, amid rumors of his account being hacked, Remeslo confirmed he wrote the post and gave interviews to independent media, saying he had no plans to leave Russia. "They'll put me on trial—well, let them try. I also have plenty of interesting things to say in court," he said. He attributed his sudden turn against Putin to his belief that the president never intends to end the war, which he said runs counter to Russia's interests.

On March 19, Remeslo was hospitalized in a psychiatric clinic under unclear circumstances. Commentators suggested the hospitalization was deliberately arranged to shield him from criminal prosecution, with help from relatives working in psychiatry. He was discharged on April 17, warning: "Harsh criticism of senior government officials comes at a price—remember that."

In an April 27 interview with journalist Ksenia Sobchak, Remeslo said he had been hospitalized against his will as punishment for his posts about Putin. He reiterated that he would not back down from his criticism, had no patrons in power, and did not plan to go abroad. He confidently predicted Putin would soon lose power: "It will be something like a palace coup... We’ll wake up in a different country."

Throughout May and June, Remeslo continued running his Telegram channel (over 120,000 subscribers), posting criticism of both Putin personally and the actions of Russian forces. On July 17, he was detained on charges of spreading "fake news" about the Russian military. According to sources at RBC, the case was opened over posts on his Telegram channel. Telegram channels close to security services circulated a video of the detention showing the blogger lying face-down on his bedroom floor in his underwear. Remeslo's lawyer, Sergei Badamshin, clarified that the posts criticizing Putin were what triggered the case.