Russian soldier Aleksandr Lunin, who threatened in a video message that the army might turn against the Kremlin if President Vladimir Putin does not meet with him, has been released after being detained by authorities, reports Agerpres, citing the EFE agency.
According to the Verstka publication, which initially reported on his arrest, Lunin posted a video message on June 25 in which he requested a meeting with Vladimir Putin to tell him “the whole truth” about the situation in Russia and the army involved in the war in Ukraine.
The message has been deleted
On Thursday, Aleksandr Lunin confirmed that he is “safe and unharmed” after his release, but did not explain why he deleted the video recording, which had almost 11 million views in the first 24 hours.
Previously, the Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitri Peskov, commented on the message, saying that it contains “quite strange formulations”.
The soldier claimed that he published the recording after “high-ranking officials from the Ministry of Defense and security agencies” had met with him and decided to use him to convey a message to the Russian president.
In the message that went viral, Lunin asserts that if Vladimir Putin does not receive him at the Kremlin, “the consequences will be very serious” and that “the army would turn their weapons against the Kremlin”.