Zelensky on 83rd anniversary of massacre of Jews at Babyn Yar: ‘Heinous crimes occur when world stays silent’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky marks the 83rd anniversary of the Nazi massacre of more than 30,000 Jews at the Babyn Yar ravine near Kyiv in 1941.

It was the largest massacre by the Germans and their local collaborators of Jewish people in Ukraine during World War II.

“Babyn Yar is a terrifying symbol, showing that the most heinous crimes occur when the world chooses to ignore, remain silent, stay indifferent, and lacks the determination to stand up against evil,” Zelensky, who is himself Jewish, says on social media site X.

According to official figures, between 100,000 and 150,000 people — including Jews, Roma people, Soviet prisoners of war and other Ukrainians — were killed at Babyn Yar between 1941 and 1942, during the Nazi occupation of Ukraine.

“Babyn Yar is vivid proof of the atrocities that regimes are capable of when led by leaders who rely on intimidation and violence,” adds Zelensky, in what appeared to be a reference to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who in February 2022 ordered the invasion of Ukraine.

“At any time, they are no different. But the world’s response should be different. This is the lesson the world should have learned.”