Earlier today I related the strange tale of Ilya Remeslo, a Russian lawyer and blogger who, after years of being a vocal supporter of Vladimir Putin and his regime, suddenly did an about-face last month and posted a disavowal of Putin, his administration, and the war in Ukraine. In return for his outspokenness, he spent 30 days in a horrific psychiatric hospital in St. Petersburg.

It is not yet known what caused Remeslo to change his tune so abruptly, though he has promised that an explanation will be forthcoming in the near future. One possibility, of course, is that he did suffer a psychotic break and genuinely needed treatment. But more likely, he — like so many people living in authoritarian societies around the world — simply saw the light and felt compelled to speak out against the lies, the violence, and the corruption, and was punished for it.

If Remeslo did indeed have an epiphany, perhaps he had been reading the works of one of Russia’s preeminent authors — the creator of the immortal War and Peace, Anna Karenina, and others — who wrote:

“Wrong does not cease to be wrong because the majority share in it.”

– Leo Tolstoy, “A Confession”

Perhaps that is something we all — not just Russians — should keep in mind in these strange and turbulent political times.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
4/18/26