The police summoned former front-line soldier and Kremlin critic Alexander Lunin after he demanded a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the true situation on the front line.
Lunin was detained for 11 days, according to a friend of the military blogger who announced the detention on Telegram on Saturday evening. The arrest came after officials searched Lunin's home in a night raid in the Voronezh region in western Russia.
The incident came after Lunin posted a video, which was widely shared in Russia and beyond. On Instagram, though banned in Russia, he said he needed to tell Putin, in a live audience, the "whole truth about what is happening in our country."
Front-line soldiers are being exploited, tortured and sacrificed by their superiors, he said.
"If I do not appear live on television alongside you shortly, the army will turn its weapons on the Kremlin," he said.
He also claimed that senior military officers and officials had encouraged him to make the appeal. The video reportedly attracted around 10 million views and hundreds of thousands of likes within a short time.
Kremlin reacts to video
The Kremlin was eventually forced to respond to the viral video. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said they had heard about the demand for an audience with Putin. "We'll have to look into this first," he said, as criticism mounts of Russia's conduct of the war, including within its own ranks.
Whilst Lunin still hoped to meet Putin, the judicial authorities searched the former front-line soldier's home during the night, his wife said, though they did not initially find him there. She said he was arrested later while heading to Moscow.
.jpg?width=1200&auto=webp&trim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0)
