Kremlin Says Many People in Russia Traitors

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated, on Thursday, that many people in Russia were behaving like "traitors" amid war with Ukraine.

Peskov pointed to those who were resigning from their jobs and leaving the country. His comments came after President Vladimir Putin warned Russian "traitors" whom the West wanted to use as a "fifth column" to destroy the country.

"In such difficult times...many people show their true colours. Very many people are showing themselves, as we say in Russian, to be traitors," Peskov told reporters on a conference call.

Asked about Putin's statement that Russia would undergo a natural and necessary "self-cleansing" as people were able to "distinguish the true patriots from the scum and the traitors".

The Kremlin leader replied: "They vanish from our lives themselves. Some people are leaving their posts, some are leaving their active work life, some leave the country and move to other countries. That is how this cleansing happens."

Last Monday, the Kremlin spokesman affirmed that Russia had the full ability to take full control of major Ukrainian cities without any need for help from China.

“The defence ministry of the Russian Federation, while ensuring the maximum safety of the civilian population, does not exclude the possibility of taking major population centres under full control,” he said.