Russia's conduct of its war against Ukraine is coming under increasing criticism, even from within its own ranks - and is forcing the Kremlin to respond.
The Kremlin said on Friday that it was aware of a viral video in which a veteran criticized the military leadership, demanded an audience with President Vladimir Putin and threatened an uprising if his appeal went unanswered.
"We need to have a look at it first," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, pointing to what he described as "strange wording" in the video.
The video by Alexander Lunin, a former Russian front-line soldier from the Voronezh region, was posted on Instagram - a platform that is officially banned in Russia. In it, Lunin said he wanted to tell Putin "the whole truth about what is happening in our country."
He said that front-line soldiers were being exploited, tortured and sacrificed by their superiors.
"If I do not appear live on television alongside you shortly, the army will turn its weapons on the Kremlin," he threatened.
He claimed to have been prompted to make this demand by high-ranking military officers and officials.
The video quickly went viral, attracting around 10 million views and hundreds of thousands of likes.
Russia has been waging war in Ukraine for more than four years. Recently, Moscow's troops have made little headway despite heavy losses.
Dissatisfaction in the country is also growing due to other war-related problems, such as the ongoing internet blackouts and the petrol crisis, which has recently escalated dramatically as a result of Ukrainian drone attacks on the Russian oil industry.
