Russian activist who turned against Putin remanded in custody

Russian activist Ilya Remeslo, who for years targeted opponents of the Kremlin before later denouncing President Vladimir Putin and Russia's offensive in Ukraine, was arrested Friday, his lawyer said.

Lawyer Sergei Badamshin said Remeslo, 42, is accused of spreading fake information about the Russian army under censorship laws introduced after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine. A Moscow court remanded him in custody for two months while he awaits trial. The charges could carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

Remeslo had previously been linked to Kremlin pressure on opposition figures, including the late Alexei Navalny. He testified against Navalny in court and helped in efforts that led to Navalny being jailed. Navalny died in an Arctic penal colony in 2024.

Earlier this year, Remeslo turned against the Kremlin. He published a manifesto criticising Putin and saying the Russian leader should be put on trial. Soon afterward, he was sent to a psychiatric hospital, in an episode the source described as recalling Soviet-era forced hospitalisation.

The arrest came one day after Remeslo wrote on social media that Putin would be led away in handcuffs in the autumn and that the situation was rapidly worsening for him.

The source says Putin's personal ratings have fallen this year as Ukrainian strikes on oil refineries have contributed to a nationwide fuel crisis during the fifth year of war. In an April interview with Russian TV personality Ksenia Sobchak, Remeslo said he felt some guilt over Navalny's fate and said nobody deserved to die in those conditions.

Russia has introduced wide censorship since launching its war in Ukraine in 2022 and does not tolerate criticism of Putin or of the military offensive. Almost all of Putin's leading critics are in jail, in exile or dead.