Russian blogger Ilya Remeslo, who criticized President Vladimir Putin for instigating the war in Ukraine, has been detained. He is accused of spreading false information about the armed forces.
Although previously he had pro-Kremlin views, in March Remeslo published on social networks a manifesto that went viral. The document was titled “Five reasons why I stopped supporting Vladimir Putin”.
Sources within the law enforcement agencies told Reuters that Remeslo faces up to 10 years in prison. The blogger criticized the war in Ukraine and restrictions on freedom of speech. According to hotnews.ro, he called for Putin to resign from his position as leader of Russia and to be put on trial.
A few days after the publication of the manifesto, Remeslo was admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Saint Petersburg. The circumstances of the hospitalization are unclear, and the blogger was discharged after a month.
The information about the blogger’s detention comes after the Russian police arrested opposition figure Boris Nadejdin on Monday, a former candidate in the 2024 presidential elections. He is currently collecting signatures for the parliamentary elections in September 2026.