Former Russian soldier sentenced in ‘extremist symbols’ case after demanding meeting with Putin
A court in Russia's Voronezh region has sentenced former soldier Alexander Lunin for displaying “extremist symbolism”, after he posted a video demanding a meeting with Vladimir Putin, the independent outlet Verstka has reported.
The court website shows that the case was registered at 10am on 27 June, with the hearing taking place at 11:30am the same day. The court has not specified what prompted the charges or what punishment was imposed. Lunin's Telegram channel reported earlier that he was jailed for 11 days.
In the video, which Lunin posted on 25 June, the ex-serviceman complained about mistreatment of Russian soldiers by their commanders. He warned that the Russian army would “turn its weapons against the Kremlin” if Putin refused to meet him face-to-face.
A few days later, Lunin said he'd been contacted by Vitaly Borodin, head of the pro-Kremlin NGO Federal Project for Security and Anti-Corruption (FPBK), who invited him to Moscow. After that, he stopped posting. The day before, a post had appeared on his Telegram channel saying Borodin was “ready to help Alexander get out of prison.” Another post on the channel said he had been arrested for 11 days, without specifying why.
On 27 June, Lunin’s wife, Tatyana, posted a video saying police had searched their home overnight, seizing computer equipment, flash drives, laptops, and other items. She later deleted the video from TikTok, then wrote on Russian social media service VKontakte that her husband was “alive and well” and asked people not to comment on the situation.
