The Kremlin ultimately had to respond to the video.Image: keystone
June 28, 2026, 08:42June 28, 2026, 08:50
Former front-line soldier Alexander Lunin has demanded a conversation with Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin about the true situation at the front – and got a meeting with the police. Lunin was taken into custody for eleven days, an acquaintance of the military blogger said on his Telegram channel. Officials had previously carried out a night-time search of Lunin’s house in the western Russian region of Voronezh.
The starting point was a video by Lunin, which made waves in Russia, among others. The man had explained on the Instagram network, which is actually banned in Russia, that he had to tell Putin the “whole truth about what is happening in our country” in a live audience. At the front, soldiers were exploited, tortured and burned to death by their superiors, he complained.
“If I don’t appear alongside you live on television shortly, the army will point its weapons at the Kremlin,” he threatened. At the same time, he claimed to have been prompted to make the demand by high-ranking military and civil servants. Within a very short time, the video was viewed around ten million times and received hundreds of thousands of likes.
Kremlin reacts to video
The Kremlin ultimately had to respond to the video. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said people had heard about the demand for an audience with Putin. “You have to look at it first,” he initially said with caution in view of increasing criticism of Russia’s conduct of the war – including from his own troops.
While Lunin apparently continued to hope for a meeting with Putin, the judiciary subsequently became active. According to Lunin’s wife, the police searched the ex-front soldier’s home that night, but did not initially find him. He was later arrested on the way to Moscow. (sda/dpa)