Justifying Vladimir Putin’s call for “denationalization” of Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the Jewish origin of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky did not matter.
“So if Zelensky is a Jew?” The fact does not deny the Nazi elements in Ukraine. I believe that Hitler also had Jewish blood, “Lavrov said in an interview with Italian television on Sunday. “One of the worst anti-Semites is the Jews.”
Mr Lavrov cites an unproven theory that German dictator Adolf Hitler had possible Jewish and African ancestors.
Putin declared war on Ukraine on February 24, describing it as a “special military operation” to disarm the Eastern European country and remove leaders he described as neo-Nazis.
Although Ukraine has a dark history of anti-Semitism, with the ultranationalist Azov militia battalion even fighting alongside the Ukrainian army in the three-month war, NATO and its allies see Moscow’s attempts at “denazification” as a pretext for invasion.
The Russian minister said Zelensky could promote peace between the two countries if he stopped giving “criminal” instructions to his “Nazi soldiers”, according to The Times of Israel.
There are publications “confirming that Americans, and especially Canadians, have played a leading role in the preparation of ultra-radical, openly neo-Nazi units for Ukraine,” Mr Lavrov said.
Israel called Mr Lavrov’s comments “unforgivable” and “misleading”, saying it suggested the Jews were to blame for their own genocide. Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid called the statement a “scandalous and terrible historical mistake.”
“Jews did not commit suicide in the Holocaust. The lowest level of racism against Jews is to accuse the Jews themselves of anti-Semitism, “said Mr Lapid.
Criticism of Moscow comes at a time when Israel is seeking a neutral position in the war.
Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial in Israel, said Mr Lavrov “promoted the Holocaust inversion by turning victims into criminals based on the promotion of a completely baseless claim that Hitler was of Jewish descent,” the statement said.
“It is just as serious to call Ukrainians in general and President Zelensky in particular Nazis. This, among other things, is a complete distortion of history and an insult to the victims of Nazism, “the memorial added.
After the declaration of war, Ukrainian leaders often called Russian President Hitler of the new era for his unprovoked aggression, especially after his troops bombed areas of Jewish significance, including the Babin Yar massacre site and Uman, a sacred site for Hasidic Orthodox Jews.
“This is pure Nazi behavior. I can’t even qualify it differently, “Mr Zelenski told the Conference of Presidents of American Jewish Organizations, an umbrella organization of Jewish groups, during a conversation at Zoom on March 7, 2022.
Dmitry Kuleba, the foreign minister of the battered, war-torn country, added that Putin’s actions reminded Ukrainians of the “model of Adolf Hitler.”
Mr Zelensky often uses his own story to say that Ukraine is not the hateful nation Putin portrays it to be. Zelensky’s grandfather reportedly fought in the Soviet Army against the Nazis, while other family members died in the Holocaust.
Russia’s foreign minister has said the upcoming anniversary of Russia’s liberation at the end of World War II will not affect Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
“Our soldiers will not base their actions on a specific date. “We will celebrate our victory in a solemn way, but the timing and speed of what is happening in Ukraine will depend on the need to minimize the risks to civilian and Russian troops,” he added.
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