President Vladimir Putin’s onslaught once morest Russia’s upper-class “traitors” shocked many on Wednesday.
In a meeting with Russian government ministers, Putin noted that The West seeks to use a “fifth column” of disloyal Russians to their country and aligned with Western life to cause division among the Russian people regarding the conflict with Ukraine.
But he said that his people will know how to differentiate“the scum and traitors“ of the patriots.
“Of course they (the West) will try to bet on the so-called fifth column, the traitorsto those who earn their money here, but live there. They live, not in the geographical sense, but in the sense of their thoughts, their servile thought“Putin said.
“I’m not judging everyone who has a villa in Miami or on the French Riviera. Or who can’t live without foie gras, oysters and the so-called gender freedom. The problem here is not that, but the fact that many of these people, by their very nature, they are mentally located there and not here. Not with our people, not with Russia.”
“This is, in their opinion, a sign of belonging to a caste, to a race. Those people are ready to sell their own mother to be allowed to sit in the hall of their high caste. They want to be of that caste, imitate her in every possible way,” he added.
The president’s unusually strong tone provoked reactions.
Mikhail Kasyanovwho served as Putin’s Prime Minister in the early 2000s, he condemned comments via Twitter.
“Putin is intensifying his actions to destroy Russia and is essentially announcing the start of massive repressions once morest those who disagree with the regime… This has happened in history before, and not only in ours,” said the now opponent. .
Political analysts such as Andrei Kolesnikov expressed their astonishment: “Putin, in an Orwellian way, has divided the citizens of Russia into clean and unclean“, he expressed.
There will be “self-cleaning”
Continuing his message, Putin said the goal of the West and the traitorous Russians was “the destruction of Russia” and to cause division and fear over the economic sanctions imposed since the war with Ukraine began.
But he said his country will know how to take action.
“Any people, and especially the Russian people, will always be able to distinguish true patriots of the scum and traitorsand just spit them out like a mosquito that accidentally flew into their mouths,” the Russian president warned.
“I am convinced that this natural and necessary self-cleansing of society It will only strengthen our country, our solidarity, cohesion and readiness to face any challenge.”
Since the invasion of Ukraine, which the Kremlin calls a “special military operation,” began on February 24, thousands of people have been detained in anti-war protests in Russia.
The government also launched a law passed on March 4 which outlaws public actions aimed at “discrediting” the Russian military and prohibits the spread of “fake news” once morest the armed forces.
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