Vladimir Putin has issued a stark warning to those Russian “traitors” who are more aligned with the West’s way of thinking.
In a national broadcast today, President Putin said that the West wanted to try and use Russians as a “fifth column” to destroy the native land claiming that western leaders and security agencies are spending huge amounts of resources on getting into his head.
It’s a futile exercise at times when the West has thought Russia’s war in Ukraine might be losing steam, but Putin has doubled down, sending his forces to bomb maternity hospitals and shelters harboring children.
An incendiary Stalinesque speech on Wednesday night in which Putin called Russians opposing the war “traitors” marked a change in tone and a sign that not all is going to plan, experts said.
Perhaps more worrying, many observers saw it as a sign that the head of the Russian state, facing a setback in Ukraine, would take a vengeful turn at home and crack down more forcefully than ever on any sign of dissent.
Activists and dissenters face threats and harassment after the Russian leader spoke about the “self-cleansing of society”. A former senior official faced calls for immediate sacking from his current position after he condemned Moscow’s invasion in comments to Western media.
While some Russians support the war, many others are protesting against it in the streets, fully aware they will be rounded up by heavily armed police even for the most peaceful of demonstrations.
The Russian state has made mass protests illegal, and now, insulting the military is against the law. Still, people show up in groups, while others demonstrate entirely alone. Even lone protesters have been detained, social media videos have shown.
Russian prisoners of war are calling Putin out for using propaganda to justify the war. However, the Kremlin leader claims that the Russian people would be able to distinguish the “traitors” from those who are pro-war.
Experts said Putin, who has enjoyed consistently high ratings in Russia, is now turning to a strategy of intimidation to keep Russians on his side. His speech hinted darkly that those Russians who do not side with him were traitors. The “fifth column” usually refers to sympathizers of the enemy during a war.
Putin said: “Such people who by their very nature, are mentally located there, and not here, are not with our people, not with Russia,” mocking them as the type that “cannot live without oysters and gender freedom.”
“But any people, and even more so the Russian people, will always be able to distinguish true patriots from scum and traitors, and simply spit them out like a gnat that accidentally flew into their mouths, spit them out on the pavement,” he added.
Marina Ovsyannikova, a journalist and editor at Channel One television, barged onto the set of its flagship Vremya (Time) evening news on Monday, holding a poster reading “No War”.
While a reporter was speaking, she ran onto the set behind the news presenter and held up a sign reading, “Stop the war, Don’t believe the propaganda, They’re lying to you.”
The newsreader continued with her report without responding, while Ovsyannikova stood behind her shouting, “Stop the war, no to war.” The journalist is being charged with organizing an unauthorized public event and faces a fine of up to $260, community service, or up to 10 days in jail.
Meanwhile, the deputy chief of Russia’s National Guard was reportedly detained Thursday amid news that President Putin is cracking down on disloyalty within his ranks following the invasion of Ukraine.
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