The Kremlin has announced the opening of an investigation after the release of a viral video in which a former Russian military officer accuses commanders involved in Ukraine of torturing and killing soldiers who refused to carry out "suicidal orders".
The video, posted on Instagram, shows a veteran addressing President Vladimir Putin directly. He claims that Russian officers have tortured and executed soldiers who refused certain missions, but he does not present any evidence or identify the victims or those allegedly responsible.
When questioned about these accusations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov indicated that the authorities had not yet examined the video's content in detail, while describing it as containing "strange phrasing." He nevertheless assured that the allegations would be investigated.
According to Reuters, the post was viewed more than 12 million times in 24 hours. Since Instagram is banned in Russia, accessing it requires the use of a virtual private network (VPN).
The video's creator, identified as Alexander Lunin, is a former soldier living in the Voronezh region. Relatively unknown to the general public until now, he claims that thousands of Russian soldiers are being held in mass graves for refusing to carry out orders deemed "stupid or suicidal" or for refusing to hand over money to their commanders. He alleges that these soldiers are then tortured and even executed.
At this stage, these accusations have not been corroborated by independent evidence, and the Kremlin has not specified the details of the announced investigation.
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