'Special wartime rules' should be used to deal with traitors, says ex-Russian leader

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said "traitors" should be dealt with according to "special wartime rules."

Urging for authorities to use the country's law in dealing with people who "have gone over to the enemy and wish their Fatherland to perish," Medvedev said late on Sunday that when if the law falls short, then "special rules of wartime" should be deployed.

Medvedev also said in his Telegram message that some of these "traitors" were people who until recently "considered themselves to be among the so-called intellectual elite."

"In times of war, there have always been such special rules. And quiet groups of impeccably inconspicuous people who effectively perform them," he said.