Alexander Lunin, a serviceman from Russia’s Voronezh region who fought in the war against Ukraine and runs a blog on Instagram and other platforms, published an address to Vladimir Putin. According to him, within four hours the video had received more than 3.5 million views and over 125,000 likes on Instagram.
In the recording, Lunin says that on June 24 and 25 he met with officials, including representatives of the Defense Ministry and security agencies. He claims they asked him to pass a message to the president: if Putin does not grant him a live on-air audience, he will reveal “the whole truth” about what is happening in the country. Lunin did not explain why he had been chosen for that role.
Lunin said that “dozens, hundreds, thousands” of Russian soldiers are now being held in zindans, or pits, where commanders allegedly place them as punishment. He claimed that troops are tortured and abused for refusing what he described as suicidal orders and for refusing to hand over money, and are then “zeroed out” and listed as missing.
Addressing Putin, Lunin urged him to pay attention to these claims and invite him for a meeting. He said that otherwise the consequences would be “very serious,” and stated that if he is not brought to the Kremlin soon and allowed to speak live beside the president, the army would “turn its weapons against the Kremlin.” At the same time, he insisted that he was only conveying someone else’s message.
In another video, Lunin said this was “not a bluff.” He also stated that if anything happens to him or his family, it would be “a signal for the start of action.” The blogger said he would reveal only to the president, live on air, who exactly had allegedly come to him and asked him to deliver the message.
Lunin added that he does not see himself as the leader of an uprising. He said he was approached because he “cannot be bought” and because the president had supposedly heard him before. He concluded by warning of a “meat grinder in the country” and saying that “the people are afraid of you.”