Putin Warns ‘Traitors’ in Speech, Calls for ’Self-Purification' in Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the Russian government in Moscow, on March 10, 2022. (Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)

Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a “self-purification” to rid Russia of individuals who are working to undermine the country.

Russians, he said in a televised speech on Wednesday, “will always be able to distinguish true patriots from scum and traitors and will simply spit them out like a gnat that accidentally flew into their mouths,” accusing the West of fostering a “fifth column” of Russians to create civil unrest.

“And there is only one goal, I have already spoken about it–the destruction of Russia,” he said, adding that he is “convinced that such a natural and necessary self-purification of society will only strengthen our country.”

Putin further stipulated that he isn’t “judging those with villas in Miami or the French Riviera” or Russians “who cannot live without foie gras and mussels or so-called gender-based rights” as long as they stood “mentally” with Russia after the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.

“The problem does not lie in this, but I repeat, the fact that many of these people inherently, mentally, live elsewhere and not here with us, with our people, with Russia,” Putin said, adding, “This is, in their opinion ... a belonging to the higher caste, the higher race,” according to a translation.

On Thursday, top Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov echoed Putin’s remarks and said that “many people” are acting to undermine Russia.

“In such difficult times ... many people show their true colors. Very many people are showing themselves, as we say in Russian, to be traitors,” Peskov told reporters, according to the Reuters news agency.

It’s not clear what new domestic policies Putin or the Kremlin may pursue following his address.

Following the start of the conflict and in addition to sanctioning senior Russian officials like Putin and Peskov, the Biden administration has frozen the Russian Central Bank’s assets, sanctioned several Russian oligarchs, sanctioned the nation’s largest banks, and it has removed these financial entities from the world’s largest financial transactions systems. European countries have also issued similar sanctions against the Russian economy.

The White House also banned the import of Russian oil and shut down Russian commercial flights to the United States.

His remarks come as Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke with Putin about the latest developments of the Russian–Ukrainian conflict and the humanitarian situation on the ground.

Erdogan stressed that some issues could be resolved through a meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and repeated his offer to host them in Istanbul or Ankara, according to a read-out released by the Turkish presidency’s communications directorate.

Erdogan added his hopes that a lasting cease-fire “would open the path to a long-term solution” and emphasized the importance of diplomacy. He also added humanitarian corridors should function in both directions effectively and without issues, according to the statement.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.