Faced with prolonged war in Ukraine, economic sanctions and anti-war protests, Russian President Putin has warned his people that he is a human trash and a traitor, and foretells a politics of terror.
In a speech on state TV on the 16th, Putin said in a speech on state TV that people of any country, especially Russians, can even more distinguish a true patriot between human scum and traitors. .
He added that the natural and necessary self-cleaning of Russian society will make Russia stronger. The speech was Putins first address to his own people after anti-war protests and Western sanctions, foreign media reported.
■ Traitors leave Russia on their own… self-cleaning
Putin, in his speech, first targeted the Russian elite. Putin has warned that those with ties to the West must show unwavering loyalty to Russia.
Putin will not condemn those who have villas in Miami, the French Riviera, or those who cannot live without the freedom of foie gras, oysters, and sex. They said they werent together.
A surprise anti-war demonstration by Marina Ovshanikova on the Russian state broadcaster Channel 1s main news. Since then, journalists belonging to the Russian state media have resigned one after another.
Kremlin spokeswoman Dmitry Peskov added that the people Putin pointed out meant those who resigned or left the country after the invasion of Ukraine. The day after Putins speech, Peskov told reporters that in these difficult times, many people are revealing their true colors, so many are revealing themselves, the traitors we spoke of.
They are disappearing from society, he said. They are leaving their jobs, quitting their jobs, or leaving their country and moving to another country, he added, adding that this is how cleaning happens.
It is estimated that more than 200,000 Russians have fled their country on their own since the invasion of Ukraine began late last month.
[Related article] “Estimated 200,000 people after invasion” People leaving Russia
■ Concerns about the resurrection of the death penalty aggravated by vague instructions
Putin mentioned traitors in his speech, but did not specify how he would respond to them. Sergei Rachenko, a professor of international relations at Johns Hopkins University in the United States, said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that it was intended to intimidate fear. By evading specific instructions for potential traitors, Putin has allowed authorities and security agencies to comprehensively punish them.
In fact, the Russian police are randomly arresting or detaining Russians participating in anti-war protests. Nearly 15,000 people across Russia have so far been arrested in connection with anti-war protests, according to human rights group OVD-Info. Among them, there are cases in which people are caught just because they were near protesters, or when they are caught holding blank papers with no text written on them on the street.
A man holding a blank paper is arrested on the streets of Novosirbisk on the 13th after being warned by the police that he is doing something illegal.
Investigations after detention also testified that they had been subjected to harsh treatment. According to a video released by OVD-Info, a police officer told protesters during an investigation that Putin is on our side and you are Russias enemy. He is the enemy of the people. Said.
There are also concerns that Russia will reinstate the death penalty. When Russia joined the Council of Europe in 1996, the death penalty was temporarily suspended in accordance with mandatory conditions. However, as anti-war protests escalated, Vice-Chairman of the National Security Council Dmitry Medvedev mentioned the resurrection of the death penalty. And on the 15th, Russia officially announced its withdrawal from the Council of Europe.
Alexander Gabuev, a senior research fellow at the Carnegie Moscow Center in Russia, predicts that Putin will be far more brutal than before. In particular, he pointed out that Putin would be afraid of increasing economic dissatisfaction with anti-war public opinion as the economic hardships aggravate the cost of living for Russians.
