Russian law enforcement authorities have arrested blogger and former Kremlin loyalist Ilya Remeslov for allegedly spreading false information about the military, the state news agency TASS reported Friday, citing police sources.
Remeslo’s lawyer said the blogger is currently being transported from St. Petersburg to Moscow to face prosecution. Authorities have not officially confirmed the charges, which carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
In March, Remeslo shocked both supporters and critics when he publicly denounced President Vladimir Putin in a scathing manifesto. In it, he accused the Kremlin leader of sending Russians to their deaths in a “dead-end war” and called for Putin to be put on trial as a war criminal.
Shortly after, the blogger was placed in a St. Petersburg psychiatric facility for a month. Remeslo later called the hospitalization involuntary retaliation for his remarks, which he refused to recant.
Remeslo had long served as an attack dog for the Kremlin, using his legal background to file complaints against activists and regime critics. He was closely involved in campaigns against the late opposition activist Alexei Navalny and appeared in court proceedings against him.
While prominent figures in Russia’s online pro-war community, collectively known as “Z-bloggers,” occasionally criticize the authorities, Remeslo’s direct and unyielding attack on the Russian president was unusual, and it set off a frenzy of speculation across the political spectrum.
