18 March 2026

Pro-government blogger and whistleblower Ilya Remeslo unexpectedly issued a harsh criticism of Vladimir Putin, calling him an illegitimate president and demanding he be brought to trial as a “war criminal and thief.” On the evening of March 17 and the morning of March 18, Remeslo published a series of posts on his Telegram channel explaining his disillusionment with the current Russian government.

The Z-blogger listed six main reasons for his dissatisfaction with Putin: the war with Ukraine, which he called “an absolute dead end” and causing enormous damage to the economy; internet and media censorship; Putin’s indefinite tenure in power; disrespect for citizens; and an “insane, borderline morbid craving for luxury.” Remeslo was particularly outraged by Putin’s response at the ONF media forum in 2017. “Putin told me then that we would not follow the Chinese path—and he lied,” he said.

Remeslo pointed out that  Putin had every opportunity to improve the lives of people in Russia, but he “took a crooked path to enriching himself and his friends from the Ozero cooperative.” He added that he previously considered the investigations into palaces and yachts exaggerated, but now, in his words, “it has become impossible to hide.” The blogger also noted that he had previously consciously avoided criticizing Putin, but now believes there is “no stability”—the country is regularly subjected to drone attacks, and internet service is restricted.

According to Remeslo, he previously fought against the “imperfect opposition,” but “didn’t sign up for the idea that there would be no opposition in the country” or for what “is happening now.” He also accused First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration Sergei Kiriyenko of personally ordering the suppression of the opposition, such as organizing sausage-throwing protests at Alexei Navalny at the airport.  Furthermore, the Z-blogger questioned the benefits for Russians of the seized Ukrainian territories. “What’s the benefit for the average Russian citizen? Everything is completely destroyed. We’ve acquired territories burdened with billions of dollars in ‘debts’ for reconstruction. What’s their value, think about it?” he wrote.

In an interview with Agency , Remeslo confirmed that he collaborated with the presidential administration and had financial ties with it. He claims he developed strategies that “the administration simply upended and misused.” The idea of ​​prosecuting Navalny for donations (a criminal case for fraud for which the politician received a nine-year prison sentence) was conceived, according to Remeslo, to gain access to FBK accounts, not to initiate criminal proceedings. “I was against it from the start, saying it was complete nonsense. Well, they didn’t listen to me,” the blogger stated.

He emphasized that he has no plans to leave Russia unless there’s a threat to his family, and is prepared for any scenario, including a trial. “If they try, well, let them try. I also have a lot of interesting things to say in court,” Remeslo said, expressing confidence that his posts will be shown to Putin.

Lawyers for the First Department note that the blogger’s critical posts are carefully crafted, without any direct appeals, but could be grounds for designation as a foreign agent. OVD-Info declined to predict the risks, noting that “they’ll charge him under whatever articles they want.”

Remeslo is a 42-year-old blogger who calls himself a “lawyer” and “investigator,” gaining notoriety long before the war for his campaign against Navalny. He has repeatedly written denunciations of opposition figures, contributing, in particular, to the blocking of the “Smart Voting” website.

A key episode in his biography was his involvement in a case of “fraud” involving donations to Navalny’s 2017 campaign. On February 22, 2022, Remeslo testified for the prosecution at the politician’s trial. The blogger himself claimed that the criminal case was initiated based on his complaint. However, one of the victims, pensioner Mikhail Kostenko, stated in court that he had no complaints against Navalny, and that it was Remeslo who filed the complaint on his behalf.

Navalny’s team discovered that Remeslo receives approximately 10 million rubles a year from legal entities associated with the former head of the Presidential Administration’s domestic policy department, Konstantin Kostin, whom the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) calls a Kremlin contractor in the fight against the opposition.

In addition to the cases against Navalny, Remeslo was behind the persecution of blogger Anton Nosik (fine of 500,000 rubles) and publicist Andrei Piontkovsky, who fled Russia after the searches. In 2021, Remeslo’s testimony formed the basis for the “defamation of a veteran” case against Navalny.

Vyacheslav Gimadi, head of the FBK legal department, called Remeslo “part of Putin’s vertical power structure,” which for years has been supporting cases against the opposition with denunciations and fake lawsuits. “It’s interesting that even these gears are breaking under Putin,” he commented on the blogger’s latest statements.

https://ru.themoscowtimes.com/2026/03/18/z-bloger-neozhidanno-nazval-putina-nelegitimnim-i-potreboval-otdat-ego-pod-sud-a190069