Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday called it “appalling” that “a Jew” like Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky was covering up Nazism in his country.
“What makes this whole situation utterly repugnant is that a Jew is covering up the Ukrainian glorification of Nazism and those who led the Holocaust at the time,” Putin told Rossiya 24 television.
He also recalled that 1.5 million Jews in Ukraine were murdered during the German occupation of the country during World War II.
On the other hand, he accused the Western powers that supported Zelensky’s rise to power of “hiding the anti-human essence that lies at the root of the modern Ukrainian state”.
The Russian leader made these statements while presiding over the meeting of the “Victory” Committee, responsible for organizing the celebration of the anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany, which Moscow celebrates annually on May 9.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Putin has accused Zelensky of leading a “neo-Nazi regime,” something Kiev categorically rejects.
On the other hand, Kiev accuses the Kremlin of “fascist” tactics by committing war crimes on Ukrainian territory and indiscriminately attacking civilian infrastructure during Ukraine’s ongoing war of aggression for more than a year and a half.
In October 2021, Zelensky, who was born into a Jewish family, paid tribute to the victims of the Holocaust in Ukraine together with the presidents of Israel and Germany.
The ceremony took place in Babi Yar on the 80th anniversary of the massacre of nearly 34,000 Jews on the outskirts of Kiev.
It is a black page in human history [e] a common tragedy of the Jewish and Ukrainian people,” Zelensky went on to emphasize.
The military offensive that Russia launched in Ukraine in February 2022 caused the worst refugee crisis in Europe since World War II (1939-1945), according to UN data, and resulted in a large number of casualties, not only military personnel, but also civilians in the past eighteen months. civilians, impossible to count while the conflict is taking place.
The invasion — justified by Putin with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security — was condemned by the international community at large, which has responded by sending arms to Ukraine and imposing political and economic sanctions on Russia. to impose.
Source: DN
