'Put him on trial': pro-Kremlin loyalist turns on Putin in rare outburst

[BeyondGeography]

Tough words for Trump’s role model:

For years, Ilya Remeslo was a reliable pro-Kremlin operator, going after critics of the regime and smearing independent journalists, bloggers and opposition politicians. Then the 42-year-old lawyer abruptly turned on the country’s most powerful man. Late on Tuesday, Remeslo posted a manifesto to his 90,000 Telegram followers titled: “Five reasons why I stopped supporting Vladimir Putin.”

In it, he accused the “illegitimate” Russian president of waging a “failing war” in Ukraine that had caused millions of casualties and wrecked the economy, and argued that Putin’s more than two decades in power illustrated how “absolute power corrupts”, calling on him to step aside. The post sent shock waves through Russia’s online sphere, fuelling confusion over how such a loyalist could reverse course so abruptly – and whether the shift was genuine.

Doubling down on his earlier remarks, he told the Guardian on Wednesday from his flat in St Petersburg: “Vladimir Putin should resign and be put on trial as a war criminal. His personalised, corrupt system is doomed to collapse, as we’re seeing now with the war in Ukraine and elsewhere.

“The army isn’t advancing in Ukraine, and the war is going nowhere. There are massive losses. We are fighting over tiny territories that will ultimately give Russia nothing.” He went on to criticise Putin’s authoritarian rule, the state of the economy and Moscow’s recent push to shut down internet access. “This man [Putin] has destroyed everything he could lay his hands on. The country is literally falling apart,”

…Asked why he had chosen to speak out now, Remeslo said the decision had developed gradually until he felt he could no longer remain silent. “Putin is no longer ‘one of us’. He is a person whose interests are completely alien to both Russia and me personally. I’ve come to the conclusion that it is both possible and necessary to criticise him, because otherwise none of this will stop and nothing good will come of it,” he said, adding that many other members in the community “thought the same way”.

More at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/18/pro-kremlin-loyalist-turns-on-putin-ilya-remeslo-russia?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

[Bettie]

1. So, he'll be "falling out of a window" oh so accidentally

very soon, I'm thinking.

That he said anything though, is a sign that Putin's control isn't as complete as it used to be.

[Jilly_in_VA]

2. Maybe there will be more?

We can hope, anyway. Things are not going well in Russia, and Putin himself is reportedly suffering from health problems. Stranger things have happened.

[DavidDvorkin]

3. He posted that two days ago, and he still hasn't gone out a window

Maybe Russia is changing.