The Russian presidential administration says it is aware of serviceman Alexander Lunin’s appeal to Vladimir Putin, but has not yet examined it in detail. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters this on June 26.
“We were told that such an appeal exists, but we have not yet had time to familiarize ourselves with it. Therefore, I would not say anything for now,” Peskov said.
He added that, judging by journalists’ descriptions, the appeal appears to contain “rather strange wording,” and that it should first be reviewed carefully.
Lunin, a serviceman from the Voronezh region who took part in Russia’s war against Ukraine, published his appeal on June 25. In it, he demanded that the president meet him live on air at the Kremlin.
According to Lunin, he intends at such a meeting to tell “the whole truth” about what is happening in the country, including problems that he says exist in the army.
Lunin also warned that if Putin refused to meet him, “the army would turn its weapons against the Kremlin.” According to the source text, the appeal received more than 12 million views on Instagram within 24 hours.
The Kremlin has therefore confirmed that it knows about the publication, but has not yet offered an official assessment of its contents, citing the fact that it has not reviewed the appeal in detail.