A Russian soldier has issued a chilling threat to Vladimir Putin over the war with Ukraine.
The veteran has threatened to turn weapons on Mr Putin and spark an uprising if the Russian leader does not “tell the truth.”
The ex-soldier, Alexander Lunin, took to social media to tell Mr Putin that he would launch a rebellion if the President did not meet with him to discuss the abuse of soldiers.
The video has been viewed over 11 million times, and within it, Mr Lunin said thousands of soldiers were being held in pits and tortured “for refusing to carry out stupid, suicidal orders.”
He also claimed that service members were being abused for not handing money over to their commanders.
The former soldier warned of “the consequences will be very serious” if he isn’t set up with a meeting on live TV with President Putin.
He said: “If I don’t arrive at the Kremlin in the near future and speak live on the air right next to you, the army will turn its weapons against the Kremlin.
“I’m merely passing along the message.”
Alexander Lunin had threatened an uprising against Vladimir Putin
|REUTERS
He claimed that high-ranking army and security officials had asked him to film the clip for social media.
Russian Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov has confirmed he has heard of the video, but neither he nor Mr Putin has watched the video.
According to local media, Mr Lunin is a 39-year-old Ukrainian war veteran from the Voronezh region in southern Russia.
The threat of revolt comes as Russia plans to make a new set of military call-ups.
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Vladimir Putin is at risk of revolt as he prepares to mobilise more troops
|GETTY
Sources told Russian media the next wave of mobilisation could come after elections to the State Duma - Russia's lower chamber - in September.
The number of men choosing to fight in Ukraine has fallen by a third this spring, compared with this time last year.
As a result, the Kremlin is under pressure to replenish its faltering invading army after record-high fatalities of more than 30,000 per month.
Military and presidential sources told Russian media the idea of mobilisation was on the table for the first time since 2022.
Gaps in Russia's military are now largely being filled by detainees, with police offering the chance to fight in Ukraine to suspects rather than face jail.
One mobilised Russian soldier said the new recruits were "taken from prison, others from the streets".
Describing them as "disposable", he added: "Literally homeless. Criminals, and already so old and ill that they can barely stand.
“The kind of people you'd find hanging around pubs, the kind you'd see lying on the streets until recently."