Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has clamped down on any dissent since the invasion of Ukraine, blasted pro-Western Russians by calling them “national traitors” in a televised address, writes CNN.

“The West will try to rely on the so-called fifth column, on national traitors, on those who earn money here with us but live there. And I mean ‘live there’ not even in the geographical sense of the word, but according to their thoughts, their slavish consciousness”, - Putin said.

These people "cannot live without oysters and gender freedom," he added.

The Russian leader, whose forces have become bogged down in Ukraine and whose country is facing economic disaster due to Western sanctions, has often blamed Western influences for what ails his country.