Putin Humiliated as Military Threaten to ‘Turn’ on Him

Vladimir Putin is facing a stunning new headache from inside his own war machine.

A Russian military commander has issued a dramatic public warning to the Kremlin, claiming fed-up troops and security officials are ready to turn their weapons on Moscow if the country is not told the “truth” about the war in Ukraine.

Alexander Lunin, a 39-year-old father of two and former commander of a Russian volunteer battalion in occupied Ukraine, made the explosive claim in a video posted to Instagram on Thursday. The clip quickly went viral, racking up millions of views and sending shockwaves through Russian political circles.

Speaking directly to Putin, Lunin said he had been asked to deliver a message from unnamed members of the military and security services. Their demand was simple but extraordinary: a meeting with Putin at the Kremlin, broadcast live, so the Russian people could hear what is really happening behind the scenes.

“If in the near future I do not come to the Kremlin and speak live next to you, the army will turn its weapons against the Kremlin,” Lunin warned.

The chilling statement marked one of the most brazen public threats aimed at Putin since the start of his full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago.

Lunin reportedly commanded a Russian volunteer battalion in occupied Ukraine until last year, when he claims he was pushed out after refusing orders. He later told the independent Russian outlet Agentstvo that defense officials had come to his home in the Voronezh region and demanded he record the video appeal to Putin.

According to Lunin, military figures were angry that he had been using his social media platforms to share complaints from Russian troops on the front lines.

The message he delivered painted a grim picture of a military boiling with rage.

Lunin said officials were sick of the war and furious over the brutal “meat grinder” conditions being endured by Russian soldiers. He claimed many troops are being punished, tortured and left to rot for refusing what he described as suicidal orders.

“No one wants bloodshed. Just make clear to the president that there will be total chaos here if this continues,” Lunin said he was told by the officials who pushed him to speak out.

In another stunning section of the video, Lunin claimed that “dozens, hundreds, thousands” of Russian soldiers are being held in pits by their commanders.

“They sit, rot, are tortured and abused by the so-called Gestapo, for the fact that they refused to carry out stupid suicidal orders,” he said, according to independent Russian outlet Meduza.

The video has since exploded online, drawing more than 200,000 likes and fueling speculation about just how deep the anger inside Russia’s military may run.

Lunin doubled down in a separate Telegram video, insisting the threat was real.

“This is not a bluff,” he said.

He also warned that if anything happens to him or his family, it would be seen as a “signal” for an uprising to begin.

“I’m sending a message, nothing more,” Lunin said. “I’m not the leader of the uprising. They came to me for one simple reason: because I can’t be bought, because the president heard me.”

The extraordinary warning comes as Putin’s war in Ukraine continues to drag on with no clear end in sight. What the Kremlin once presented as a quick operation has turned into a grinding conflict marked by heavy casualties, battlefield embarrassment and growing attacks deeper inside Russian territory.

Ukraine has repeatedly struck strategic targets inside Russia with long-range attacks, undercutting Moscow’s image of control and bringing the cost of the war closer to ordinary Russians.

Putin has continued to reject peace deals, even as pressure mounts from abroad and signs of strain appear inside his own system.

Now, with a former commander publicly claiming that troops are prepared to rebel, the Russian leader may be facing a danger he cannot easily silence: anger from the very forces he depends on to keep his war alive.