Ilya Remeslo Turns Against Vladimir Putin, Russian Authorities Send Him to Psychiatric Hospital

In March, Ilya Remeslo, described as a longtime Kremlin attack lawyer and propagandist, turned against Vladimir Putin by posting that the Russian president should resign and be brought to justice as “a war criminal and a thief.” The Washington Post says Russian authorities “rapidly carted Remeslo off — against his will — to a St. Petersburg psychiatric hospital.” The same reporting frames the episode as a sign of “rift in Russian power circles,” with Remeslo’s public break from Putin coming before any visible shift in the Kremlin’s public posture. The immediate context, as laid out by the Washington Post, is that Remeslo’s turn triggered a swift state response rather than a debate inside the Kremlin.

“It had been almost three years since Vladimir Putin had kissed a child in public”

EL PAÍS English

EL PAÍS reports that Putin’s approval ratings have fallen to their lowest level since the start of his offensive in Ukraine, citing polls released on April 24 and comparing them with February. It says that in its latest publication released on April 24, Putin’s approval rating had fallen to 65.5%, down from above 74% in February, while another Kremlin-linked agency, FOM, showed an approval rating of 73%. The article also quotes Denis Volkov, director of the Levada Center, explaining that “Inflation is the number one problem,” and it links the Kremlin’s worry to discontent driven by economic crisis rather than the war. EL PAÍS adds that the offensive to control the internet by blocking it is “mainly due to the economic situation,” according to Volkov’s explanation.

EL PAÍS says criticism has surfaced for the first time in three years, after Instagram posts by several Russian celebrities that, without denouncing the war, blamed Putin’s advisors for failing to inform him about the country’s problems. It reports that opposition figures suspect the posts were a presidential operation to convince Putin that security forces had gone too far with internet censorship, and it notes that Putin later broke his silence to support his police. In that statement, Putin said, “This is related to operational work to prevent terrorist attacks,” and he added that “Ensuring the safety of the people will always be a priority.” The article then warns that if “urgent financial, economic, and other measures are not taken,” Gennady Zyuganov said the country could face “the same situation as in 1917 this fall,” with parliamentary elections scheduled for the fall as a key political stake.

“Democracy Dies in Darkness By Catherine Belton When Ilya Remeslo, a longtime Kremlin attack lawyer and propagandist, first turned against Vladimir Putin in March, posting publicly that the Russian president should resign and be brought to justice as “a war criminal and a thief,” the Russian authorities rapidly carted Remeslo off — against his will — to a St”

Washingtonpost