Russian serviceman who threatened Putin with mutiny jailed on ‘extremist’ or Nazi symbols charge

A Russian court has arrested serviceman Alexander Lunin on an administrative charge of displaying extremist or Nazi symbols, the independent Russian news outlet Verstka reported.

A notice of Lunin’s 11-day arrest appeared June 27 in a Telegram channel associated with him, without specifying what prompted it. Details of the case appeared on the court’s website two days later, on the morning of June 29.

The court declined to provide Verstka with details, saying these cases are not subject to disclosure. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 days of arrest.

Alexander Lunin is a serviceman who has repeatedly posted video appeals to Vladimir Putin on social media. In one of them, he threatened a military mutiny unless he was allowed to meet the Russian president on a live broadcast so he could tell him “the whole truth about what’s happening in our country.” The video racked up more than 10 million views in its first 24 hours alone.

Three days later, reports emerged that Lunin’s home had been searched. He was then detained and sentenced to administrative arrest. The Kremlin said it had not yet reviewed his appeal but described it as containing “rather strange wording.”