On Thursday, March 17, Dmitry Peskov commented on Vladimir Putin’s statement at a meeting with the heads of regions about “self-purification of Russian society.” Peskov noted that at the moment “a lot of people show themselves, they say in Russian, as traitors.”
“In such difficult times and in such responsible situations, emotionally very exalted situations, just a lot of people show their essence,” Peskov said. “They themselves disappear from our lives. Someone leaves their positions, someone leaves their active service life, someone leaves the country and moves to other states. This is how this cleansing happens. Someone breaks the law and bears for this is a punishment in accordance with court decisions,” the TASS news agency quoted Peskov as saying.
TASS also cites the response of the Kremlin spokesman to a request to comment on the cases of the letter Z on the doors of people who oppose the Russian special operation in Ukraine. Peskov expressed doubt that such a step would lead to self-purification. “Now everyone is very emotionally showing their attitude to what is happening. Many people want not just emotionally, but effectively to support the president. The vast majority of them,” he stressed.
It should be noted that on March 16, Vladimir Putin also spoke about the “fifth column”, about “national traitors who are ready to betray their own mother.”