Putin ally demands 'traitors and deserters' be shot as Russia retreats

Kremlin propagandist Vladimir Solovyov has demanded that the death penalty be reinstated in Russia for "traitors" and soldiers who retreat from battle in Ukraine.

Solovyov, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, made the remarks during his radio show Full Contact (Polny Kontakt) on November 10, shortly after Russia announced its withdrawal from the key Ukrainian city of Kherson, Newsweek reports.

He floated bringing back the death penalty for those suspected of wartime sabotage, and for Russian soldiers who retreat in Ukraine.

"I believe that we should reject the moratorium on the death penalty and introduce articles allowing the execution of traitors and their accomplices, terrorists and their accomplices, sponsors, and financiers, including shooting deserters who abandoned the combat order and betrayed their comrades," he said.

In 1996, Russia imposed a moratorium on the death penalty pending its membership in the Council of Europe.

Russia was suspended from the body the day after Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and on September 16, it ceased to be a party to the European Convention on Human Rights.

"Brutal discipline, personal responsibility of those making the decisions, iron will in carrying out the orders," Solovyov added. "A clear understanding of the consequences and the responsibility that comes with making decisions."

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev also backed the death penalty being reinstated in Russia last week after four students opposed to the Ukraine war sabotaged railways in the country.

Four Russian and foreign students, aged between 17 and 18, were arrested in the city of Ufa, the capital and largest city of the Republic of Bashkortostan in western Russia. They are accused of organizing a terrorist act, state-run news outlet Kommersant reported, citing a press release from a district court.

According to court papers, the teenagers attempted at least five times to damage railway electrical equipment in protest against the conflict.

The students reportedly hoped to destabilize the work of the Bashkortostan authorities amid the war.

Medvedev called the defendants "monsters" and said that during World War II "saboteurs" were shot. "There was only one verdict for such scoundrels - execution without trial or investigation. Right at the crime scene," he wrote on his Telegram channel.

"We can overcome the moratorium on the death penalty, if necessary, within the framework of the current Constitution," Medvedev continued. "It's a matter of choosing the means to protect the interests of our people, the state, and society."

"If you are a traitor who committed a crime during wartime, you have no... right to protect your life," he warned.