PUTIN CALLS ZELENSKY “A DISGRACE TO JEWISH PEOPLE”

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Western Wall. 26/06/2012. (File Photo: Shalom Freund)

Sat 17 June 2023:

Russian President Vladimir Putin cast a public slur on Ukrainian President Zelensky’s Jewish roots on Friday, saying without evidence that some Jews considered him a disgrace to their faith.

“I have many Jewish friends. They say Zelenskiy is not a Jew, he is a disgrace to the Jewish people,” Putin said at an economic forum in St Petersburg.

There was no immediate comment by Ukraine’s presidency.

#Putin: "I have many Jewish friends since childhood, they say Zelensky is not a Jew but a shame for the Jewish people."
pic.twitter.com/7Cyr3daP3S

— Russian Market (@runews) June 16, 2023

Zelensky, who has said that some of his grandfather’s brothers were killed in the Holocaust, has repeatedly dismissed as false Russian accusations that he has supported neo-Nazis in Ukraine.

During his speech in St. Petersburg, Putin also added, “Today, neo-Nazis are placed on a pedestal belonging to Ukrainian heroes, who continued Adolf Hitler’s work. Six million Jews were annihilated in the Holocaust, and one and a half million of them were killed in Ukraine.”

The forum takes place in western Russia, at a time when the country has been the target of numerous drone attacks in recent weeks, along with an armed incursion and explosions blamed by Moscow on Kyiv’s forces.

In response to Putin’s comments, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Israel, Yevgeny Kornichuk, told Ynet that, “The comment was made to provoke and is a sad attempt at propaganda.”

“We need to take into account that Putin is attempting to undermine relations between Israel and Ukraine ahead of the visit of President Zelensky’s wife to Israel, intentionally making these statements prior to Saturday, which is a holy day for Jews,” he said.

“We expect the Israeli government to strongly condemn Putin’s remarks, as failure to do so may lead to the postponement or cancellation of the visit of President Zelensky’s wife to Israel,” Kornichuk added. Zelensky’s wife, Olena Zelenska, is scheduled to arrive in Israel next week.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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