Lunin was partly responsible for the creation of the first Decembrist society, the “Union of True and Faithful Sons of the Fatherland.” Though he departed for France in the fall of 1825, he was still connected to this society and others like the Union of Salvation (later the Union of Welfare), casting suspicion on him after the subsequent failed Decembrist Revolt that winter. The group's stated goals of transitioning Russia into a constitutional monarchy, abolishing serfdom, and reducing the influence of foreigners in the government probably would have been alone enough to alarm the government, but some members went even further. For example, F. P. Šaxovskoj of the Union of Salvation believed the group should assassinate the tsar, which Lunin was accused of supporting. Lunin insisted that he had known nothing of these ideas before returning to Moscow, but he was accused of returning expressly to participate in the plot. However, the record of a key meeting seems to support his innocence: during the discussion of a paper on monarchic versus republican governments, he spoke for a limited monarchy under a constitutional tsar, as against a Russian republic.