The Kremlin on Thursday said many people in Russia were showing themselves to be “traitors” and pointed to those who were resigning from their jobs and leaving the country.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov made the comments a day after President Vladimir Putin delivered a stark warning to Russian “traitors” who he said the West wanted to use as a “fifth column” to destroy the country.

Peskov told reporters on a conference call that “in such difficult times many people show their true colours. Very many people are showing themselves, as we say in Russian to be traitors.

“They vanish from society themselves. Some people are leaving their posts, some are leaving their active work life, some leave the country and move to other countries. That is how this cleansing happens.’’

He was referring to Putin’s comment on Wednesday that Russia would undergo a natural and necessary “self-cleansing” as people were able to “distinguish the true patriots from the scum and the traitors.’’