What is happening in Putin's Russia? The case of Ilya Remeslo, the blogger who ended up in a mental institution after criticizing Vladimir.

More than two years after the start of the war in Ukraine, cracks are appearing in the armored system built by Vladimir Putin, not only among the opponents—mostly in exile or behind bars—but even among the most aligned supporters.

Shaking Russian politics and the digital sphere in recent hours is the shocking defection of Ilya Remeslo, 42, a lawyer and former pro-government propagandist, known for his attacks on dissidents and a fierce rival of Alexei Navalny.

The turning point came with the online publication of a manifesto that went viral, titled “Five Reasons Why I Stopped Supporting Vladimir Putin”.

Remeslo breaks every political taboo by accusing the president of conducting a war without an exit and with heavy losses, of having devastated the economy to build “palaces for himself and his friends”, of censoring the internet, and of having concentrated power to such an extent that he is “absolutely corrupt” after nearly 27 years. His conclusion is clear: Putin would be “illegitimate”, a thief, and a “war criminal” who should resign. All of this occurs in a very dark atmosphere in Moscow and throughout the Federation, where even cell phone connections are limited “for security reasons” and where the government has blocked WhatsApp, restricted Telegram, and encouraged Russians to communicate on a state platform.

The Kremlin-loyal media apparatus immediately mobilized to discredit the former ally. Popular host Vladimir Solovyov, for example, attacked Remeslo, suggesting that he might have “gone crazy” or “switched sides”. On air, he dismissed the case as a seasonal psychiatric issue: “It’s spring, mental illnesses worsen, they start recruiting our mentally unstable citizens,” he said, ultimately labeling the lawyer a mere “temporary travel companion” whom the system can do without.

Shortly after his criticisms, Remeslo received frantic phone calls from contacts in the security services urging him, in a panic, to remove the posts. Although he stated to reporters that he was “ready for any trial against me,” events took a darker turn reminiscent of the specter of punitive psychiatry from the Soviet era.

Shortly thereafter, Remeslo was admitted to the “Skvortsov-Stepanov” Psychiatric Hospital in Saint Petersburg. The news, initially reported by pro-war blogger Alexander Kartavykh, was later confirmed by the Fontanka broadcaster, which verified the information through the health facility's information service. After his admission, several attempts by journalists to contact him were unsuccessful.

Regarding the reasons for this dramatic turnaround, the Telegram channel “Slovo Zashchite” puts forward a more calculated hypothesis: Remeslo's repositioning could be linked to a preliminary investigation against him; his public denunciations would serve to lay the groundwork for presenting any legal actions against him as politically motivated.