Pro-Kremlin blogger leaves psychiatric hospital after criticizing Putin, says conditions were ‘pretty rough’

Pro-Kremlin blogger and informant Ilya Remeslo has left a psychiatric hospital, he announced on his Telegram channel. He spent 30 days at the facility.

Remeslo wrote that he had been “completely clean of substances and alcohol” at the time of his hospitalization. The conditions at the hospital were “pretty rough,” he said, and apparently worse than prison. As an example, he cited the absence of outdoor walks.

“Harsh criticism of senior government officials has its price — remember that. […] I don’t regret the substance of what I said, but if I were doing it now, I would use more measured and balanced language, without making it personal. That shortcoming I intend to correct going forward,” Remeslo wrote.

He promised to explain in the coming days “why all of this was done” and what he plans to do next.

Ilya Remeslo, 42, is a pro-Kremlin blogger who built his reputation on fighting Alexey Navalny. He has claimed that it was his tip to authorities that led to a criminal fraud case against the opposition politician over donations.

In March, Remeslo publicly criticized Vladimir Putin, accusing the president of starting the war in Ukraine and damaging Russia’s economy, introducing censorship on the internet and in the media, seizing power, and suppressing the opposition.

A few days after the post was published, it emerged that Remeslo had been placed in a psychiatric hospital. Some pro-government bloggers suggested he had done so in an attempt to shield himself from criminal prosecution for criticizing Putin.