March 19, 2026

Ilya Remeslo Hospitalized in Psychiatric Hospital. He Previously Criticized Putin

Pro-government blogger and informant Ilya Remeslo has been hospitalized in Skvortsov-Stepanov Psychiatric Hospital No. 3 in St. Petersburg. This was reported by Fontanka. Journalists from the publication learned from the hospital's information desk that parcels can be delivered to a patient with this last name on Saturdays and Wednesdays. Photo: Ilya Remeslo / Telegram. Earlier, Z-blogger Alexander Kartavykh stated that Remeslo was hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital on the evening of Wednesday, March 18. After that, journalist Alexander Plyushchev, who interviewed the blogger the day before, said that Remeslo had stopped communicating. "Perhaps, for the authorities, this is the most effective crisis management. Although what Remeslo tells me in the interview does not at all resemble delirium," noted Plyushchev. On the evening of March 17, the pro-government blogger and informant published a post on his Telegram channel with the heading "Five reasons why I stopped supporting Vladimir Putin." Remeslo called the war in Ukraine "an absolute dead end" and noted that it causes enormous damage to the Russian economy. In addition, he mentioned restrictions on the internet and media in Russia. The blogger said that in 2017 he asked Vladimir Putin "about the development path of the internet" in the country. Putin, according to him, said that the Russian Federation would not restrict the network like China did, "and lied." Remeslo mentioned that Putin has been in power since 1999 and does not plan to leave his post in the near future. "Apparently, [Putin] plans to sit on the throne for at least 150 years. As is known, absolute power corrupts absolutely - and what if it is also infinite?" wrote the blogger. Another of the blogger's complaints against Putin is that he "does not respect his voters and does not want to hear them." He called the politician's direct lines "a complete circus." "Vladimir Putin is not a legitimate president. Vladimir Putin should resign and be brought to justice as a war criminal and a thief," Remeslo concluded his post. The blogger also recorded a voice message in which he confirmed that he had not been hacked and added another reason why he stopped supporting Putin: "A crazy, borderline pathological craving for luxury." The next day, Remeslo continued to publish posts criticizing Putin and the war in Ukraine, noting that he was in Russia. In particular, he commented on Russia's seizure of Ukrainian territories as follows: "They liberated them, they liberated them. But what is the profit for the ordinary citizen of Russia? Everything is destroyed to smithereens. We received territories burdened with billions of 'debts' for restoration. What is their value, think about it? This is a question primarily to Putin's supporters." Earlier, Remeslo was known as a supporter of Putin, a staunch opponent of Alexei Navalny and his team. He sent denunciations against the politician and the FBK, and in 2022 he testified as a prosecution witness in the case against Navalny. The latter was then accused of fraud due to donations for his 2017 presidential campaign. The blogger claimed that this case was initiated against the oppositionist after his denunciations. Six months earlier, Remeslo wrote statements to the Investigative Committee, the Prosecutor General's Office, and the Federal Tax Service about the embezzlement of donations from Navalny's funds. The blogger himself told Meduza about this.