From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, June 21, 2023
Zelensky: Putin is ‘like the second king of antisemitism after Hitler’
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Ukrainian leader Vlodymir Zelensky reacts to Russian leader Vladimir Putin calling him a “disgrace to the Jewish people,” saying that the Russian leader is the second king of antisemitism after Hitler.”
Zelensky, in an interview with the BBC, is asked about Putin’s comments last week.
Zelensky, who is Jewish and lost relatives in the Holocaust, appears taken aback and then says he wasn’t quite sure how to answer the question.
“It’s like he doesn’t fully understand his words. Apologies, but it’s like he is the second king of antisemitism after Hitler,” Zelensky says.
“This is a president speaking. A civilized world cannot speak that way. But it was important for me to hear the reaction of the world and I am grateful for the support,” he says.
Putin on Friday claimed Zelensky is seen as a “disgrace” to his faith by other members of the religion.
“I have a lot of Jewish friends,” Putin told an annual economic forum in Saint Petersburg. “They say that Zelensky is not Jewish, that he is a disgrace to the Jewish people.”
“This is not a joke and not an attempt at irony, because today neo-Nazis, Hitler’s disciples, have been put on a pedestal as heroes of Ukraine,” Putin added, according to the TASS Russian News Agency.
The Times of Israel Community.