In a message published on Telegram on Tuesday, Ilya Remeslo, a 42-year-old lawyer and pro-regime blogger, strongly criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin’s policies.
Ilya Remeslo had been a staunch supporter of Vladimir Putin for years, until this Tuesday, March 17. Described as a 42-year-old lawyer by The Guardian and as a pro-Kremlin jurist and blogger by AFP, he suddenly turned against the Russian leader. He expressed his opposition in a long message on Telegram titled “Five reasons why I stopped supporting Vladimir Putin.” In this manifesto, he harshly criticized the Kremlin leader, accusing him of not being a “legitimate president” and calling for his resignation.
Two days after his outspoken remarks, the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported that Ilya Remeslo had been interned. St. Petersburg Psychiatric Hospital No. 3 confirmed that “Ilya Borisovitch Remeslo” had been hospitalized on Thursday and that his family, including his wife, had been “informed.” The institution declined to provide details about his health status.
“Issue-less War”
Ilya Remeslo is a former member of the Russian Public Chamber, an advisory body controlled by the Kremlin, as explained by The Guardian. He is known for using his legal background to target and denounce critics of the regime in court and online. Much of his work has involved campaigning against the opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, by testifying against him in courts across the country, details the British newspaper.
In 2014, he had “supported” the annexation of Crimea “because it was peaceful” and allowed to “unify Russian lands,” as he explained in his manifesto. However, he now believes that the conflict in Ukraine is nothing more than a “issue-less war” led solely to “satisfy Putin’s insecurities.” “We, as ordinary citizens, gain nothing from it,” he laments.
In his Telegram message, he mournfully deplores the damages of the war on the Russian economy: “This represents thousands of billions of dollars that could have been used to build cities, schools, hospitals for children, and to completely restructure housing and public services.” He also denounces a “stranglehold on the internet and press freedom.” The former pro-regime member turned opponent believes that Russia needs a “new president” because Vladimir Putin “completely ignores domestic policy and the concerns of his voters,” according to him. Therefore, he believes the leader should “resign” and “be brought to justice for war crimes and theft.”
Shockwave
His sharp statements have caused a shockwave in the pro-Kremlin digital sphere, prompting some bloggers to question the sincerity of this turnaround. Some thought his account had been hacked. However, this hypothesis was quickly dismissed after Ilya Remeslo uploaded a video reiterating his claims and adding a “sixth reason” not to support Putin: “An insane attraction to luxury,” accusing the Russian president of having “about twenty mansion-castles.”
The main protagonist has also spoken out in the pages of The Guardian, from his apartment in St. Petersburg: “Vladimir Putin should resign and be tried for war crimes. His personalized and corrupted system is collapsing, as we are currently seeing with the war in Ukraine and elsewhere.”
“Ready to Face Any Trial”
Why speak out now? Ilya Remeslo explained to the British newspaper that his decision had “matured progressively until he felt he could no longer remain silent.” “Putin is no longer one of us. His interests are completely foreign to Russia and to myself. I have come to the conclusion that it is both possible and necessary to criticize him, because otherwise nothing will stop and nothing good will come out of it,” he declared, adding that many other members of the community shared this view.
His speaking out is dangerous in a country known for suppressing the speech of regime opponents. The opposition figure stated that he harbors no illusions about the risks of prosecution. “I am ready to face any trial,” he declared. And he continued: “It is time to break this vicious circle and speak up. I have a certain responsibility, as I have long supported this regime and contributed to its survival.” For now, the information indicating that he was interned in a psychiatric hospital raises a question: did he actually suffer from mental health issues or is this a Kremlin sanction?
