Pro-Kremlin Blogger Remeslo Detained in Psychiatric Facility

Ilya Remeslo, a former pro-Kremlin blogger known for criticizing opposition figures like the late Alexei Navalny, has been placed in a psychiatric facility after publicly denouncing Russian President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine. According to The Guardian, Remeslo posted a manifesto on Telegram entitled "Five reasons why I stopped supporting Vladimir Putin," which went viral among his 90,000 followers.

The post accused Putin of prosecuting a "failing war" that has killed millions and torpedoed Russia's economy. Remeslo called for Putin to resign and be brought to trial as a war criminal. This sudden shift in stance surprised both the pro-war blogger community and exiled anti-Kremlin opposition.

TimesLIVE reported that St Petersburg’s Fontanka newspaper confirmed Remeslo's hospitalization at Psychiatric Hospital No 3, but did not specify the grounds for his admission. Attempts to reach Remeslo or determine how he came to be hospitalized were unsuccessful. The hospital worker who answered the phone confirmed a patient matching Remeslo's name was admitted but could not provide further details.

The Guardian provided additional context, noting that Remeslo had long been a reliable pro-Kremlin operator and member of Russia’s public chamber, a Kremlin-controlled advisory body. His abrupt turn against Putin sparked speculation about the authenticity of his statements. Some suggested it could be a form of Kremlin political dark arts or a mental breakdown.

Remeslo denied these suggestions in an interview with The Guardian, stating that none of this is staged and he was speaking the truth. He claimed to have received frantic calls from contacts in the security services urging him to take down his posts. Leonid Volkov, a close ally of Navalny, initially suspected the episode had been staged but later changed his mind, acknowledging that Remeslo's remarks went far beyond anything the Kremlin would sanction or orchestrate.