It took journalist Ksenia Sobchak two hours interview From pro-government blogger and whistleblower Ilya Remislo. He is known as someone who fought with Alexei Navalny for many years and was behind one of the criminal cases against the opposition figure. In mid-March, Remislo unexpectedly published a post criticizing Vladimir Putin on his Telegram channel, and two days later he ended up in a psychiatric hospital, where he spent a month. After leaving the hospital, Remyslaw told Sobchak about his hospitalization, change of political position, earnings while working in the Kremlin, conflict with Navalny, attitude towards his death. Meduza retells the main points from this interview.
How Kraft ended up in a psychiatric clinic
On the evening of March 18, the blogger conducted an interview with journalist Alexander Plyushchev, in which he confirmed that he deliberately wrote a post criticizing Putin and would not retract his words. A few hours later, according to his words, an ambulance and police arrived at Remislo’s house. “They said, ‘Your text messages about Putin are disturbing society,’” Remislo said.
The blogger denied a rumor that they hid him in a psychiatric hospital in an attempt to save him from a possible criminal case. But he refused to answer exactly who called the ambulance. Although he did clarify that it was still possible that someone from his family had something to do with this:
“One of my relatives was afraid that I would face very serious criminal liability. There were attempts to investigate [у другого врача]What should I do, maybe make it look like I’m “overheated”. For this reason, the ambulance can appear partially. <…> But according to my information, neither I nor any of my close relatives contacted her.”
According to Remislo, he was hospitalized, examined several times and forced to take drugs, but was not given a diagnosis. In general, he described his hospital stay as a difficult experience and presented it as punishment for his words about Putin.
How much did Remeslo earn while working at AP?
In an interview with Plyushchev before his hospitalization, Remislo said that he cooperated from mid-2010 until the end of 2025 with the presidential administration in Russia. In a conversation with Sobchak, he mentioned that he earned an average of 700 thousand rubles a month from this. The blogger described his activities as “projects” to fight the opposition. About 70% of the “projects” were linked to Navalny, and the remaining 30% were linked to other opponents.
Asked why he stopped working for the AP, Remislo said he “didn’t want to anymore.” He insisted he was not fired. On the contrary, the blogger claimed that he was planning a new “project” – which was supposed to collect information about a certain communist deputy so that he could be declared a “foreign agent.” They were supposed to pay 10 million rubles for this “project”, but Remislo, according to him, refused.
Blogger Sobchak also told of the algorithm through which Russian authorities declare people “foreign agents”:
“There are different ways to enter. When the materials are very few, as a rule, they turn to the Duma Committee for Combating Foreign Influence. They have their own ways of collecting materials, they prepare a conclusion that there are signs of a ‘foreign agency’ in the activities of such-and-such person, then they go to the prosecutor’s office… The Ministry of Justice intervenes at the last minute. When other departments agree, the Ministry of Justice is unlikely to refuse.”
According to Remislo, decisions to recognize a “foreign agent” are made by the administration in conjunction with the security bloc – and this is “purely the discretion of the leadership.”
Does Kraft feel guilty before Navalny?
The blogger told Sobchak that he is not ashamed of most of his “projects,” because he fought opposition in the legal field. Among the stories he remains ashamed of, Remislo mentioned a criminal fraud case involving FBK donations. One of the victims was retiree Mikhail Kostenko, who first donated and then filed a lawsuit against Navalny. At Navalny’s trial, Kostenko said that he had no claims against the politician, and Kraft was behind this claim.
In an interview, Sobchak Remeslo confirmed that he asked Kostenko to send a donation to FBK and paid him 50 thousand rubles for it. With this donation, Remeslo wanted to access FBK reports and find violations in them. But neither he nor Kostenko expected that the pensioner would become a victim in a criminal case and would have to go to interrogations and trial.
“These idiots from the investigation committee decided to make him a victim. <…> [С его стороны] The reaction was violent. I realized that everything would be bad, because he was not ready to speak in court. He failed in his performance. <…> It’s one thing when you translate, and another thing when you become a victim. “He was afraid to participate in a criminal case, and I understand that,” Remislo said.
When asked if he felt guilty for participating in the persecution of Navalny, Remislo replied:
“I am very sorry for Navalny. No one deserves to die in the circumstances in which he died. When I learned of his death, I had very strong feelings, I felt really sorry for him. Until the last moment I hoped that he would be recalled or replaced or something else. Yes, I feel guilty. But I did everything to prevent his return to Russia.” [после отравления „Новичком“ в 2020 году]. When it became known that he would return, I suggested to the AP that they intimidate him [уголовным делом]. <…> I honestly wrote, through my contacts and contacts, to Navalny’s people that even if Alexei does not return, there will definitely be a trial and that’s it. “I did everything to prevent him from coming back here.”
What will the craft do next?
Despite feeling guilty towards Navalny, Remyslow refused to transfer to his team the rights to the “Beautiful Russia of the Future” trademark, which he had registered for himself. “It was fun to troll,” the blogger said. “People don’t trademark a phrase they use all the time. Their lawyers didn’t do a very good job and I beat them to it.” <…> Better if I use this sign in my activities, I will build a beautiful Russia for the future. If someone wants to join, I am ready to accept.”
He explained that he will not give up criticizing Putin, has no supporters in power and does not intend to travel abroad. To Sobchak’s questions about how he plans to engage in opposition activities in modern Russia and not go to prison, Remislo did not answer anything obvious. He merely reiterated his prediction that Putin’s power will collapse very soon.
“It is my deep conviction that, within a year, we will witness very global changes. <…> Destruction of the previous system and birth of a new one. It would be a palace coup. <…> Let’s wake up in another country. I know from communicating with various people from the AP and the government that they secretly hate Putin because he took everything from them, because they can’t use their wealth, because [конфискацию активов по искам Генпрокуратуры]. <…> I spoke with the security forces, they need stability, and they are also howling from war.
When Sobchak asked him what he would like to be called in the media in two years, the blogger replied: “The head of the opposition movement in Russia, Ilya Remyslow.”