MOSCOW

Citizens rooting for Russia’s defeat in Ukraine are “traitors” and “enemies,” the country’s former President Dmitry Medvedev said.

“Traitors who hate their country so much that they call for its defeat and destruction should be treated as hostis publicus, enemies of society,” Medvedev, who currently serves as deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said in a Telegram post.

“Such people should not be allowed back into Russia until the end of their days. They need to be completely cut off from the sources of income in our country, whatever they are.”

This situation where “traitors who wish their country defeat and simultaneously earn money from Russia must be stopped once and for all,” he asserted.

They should only be allowed to return after “unequivocal public repentance,” he said, but added that “it would be better for them to not come back.”