1 of 1 Montage with photos of the Presidents of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and of Russia Vladimir Putin Photo: Sputnik/Kremlin/Portal and Viacheslav Ratynsky/Portal Montage with photos of the Presidents of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and of Russia Vladimir Putin — photo : Sputnik/Kremlin/Portal and Viacheslav Ratynsky/Portal
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, calling him an embarrassment to the Jewish people.
In addition, Putin reiterated his justification for the military offensive in Ukraine, declaring that the country was ruled by “neoNazis”.
“I have many Jewish friends from my childhood, and they say that Zelenskyy is not a Jew, that he is a disgrace to the Jewish people. I’m not kidding,” said the Russian President at the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg.
Russia claims that the Ukrainian government’s treatment of the Russianspeaking population in Ukraine is comparable to the actions of Nazi Germany. These allegations are denied by the Ukrainian government and the country’s Jewish community.
After Putin’s remarks, the great rabbi of Ukraine said he was proud of Zelenskyy. “And not only me, I think the whole world is proud of him,” Rabbi Moshe Reuven Azman told Ukraine’s UNIAN news agency.
Guga: “It’s Putin’s lie that Ukraine is ruled by neoNazis and drug addicts”
“He didn’t run away and is doing his best to help the Ukrainian people,” he said.
Ukrainian businessman and philanthropist Viktor Pinchuk, who said he is also of Jewish descent, said, “Zelenskyy is the embodiment of the struggle for freedom, and freedom is one of the core values of the Jewish people,” according to a statement released by his foundation.