Sept 5 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a television interview on Tuesday, without citing evidence, that Western powers had installed Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who is of Jewish heritage,

Sept 5 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a television interview on Tuesday, without citing evidence, that Western powers had installed Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who is of Jewish heritage, as president of Ukraine to cover up the glorification of Nazism.

In justifying its invasion of Ukraine, which it calls a “special military operation,” Russia accuses Kyiv’s leaders of being neo-Nazis pursuing a “genocide” of Russian-speakers - an assertion that Kyiv and Western countries dismiss as a baseless pretext for a war of acquisition.

Putin was answering a question from Russian reporter Pavel Zaubin and his comments were shown on Russian state TV.

Zelenskiy, 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. (Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin Liffey Editing by Alex Richardson)

TASS source (Russian media) : https://tass.com/politics/1670265

You can verify if this is the correct representation here if you want to

    • zephyreks [none/use name]@hexbear.net
      191·
      1 year ago

      Nazi in Russia refers to the forced displacement, prosecution, and rape of ethnic Russians and Communists by the invading Nazi forces throughout the war. The Nazis had a much different view on Western Europeans than they did on Slavs and Jews and Communists, so is this surprising at all?

      Whereas the West was treated more or less as though under military occupation (see: France, Norway), the goal of the Nazis during Barbarossa was the extermination of the Slavic peoples.

    • AssholeDestroyer@lemmy.ml
      72·
      1 year ago

      There were literal swatika wearing Nazis among other far right groups leading the 2014 Euromaiden protests that kicked out the Russian backed president in Ukraine. The leftist groups were anti-protest and also anti-government.

    • mjhagen@lemmy.world
      41·
      1 year ago

      Not everything is about you, Russia. Do they really define WWII by someone attacking them? That’s ignoring a lot.

      • ours@lemmy.filmEnglish
        6·
        1 year ago

        For context, WWII in Russia is known as The Great Patriotic War.

        Granted the USSR took the lion’s share of casualties and Nazi smashing (with Western support) but yeah, they’ve reduced it to *their * war against the Axis forces.

        • oatscoop@midwest.socialEnglish
          32·
          1 year ago

          And conveniently forget the USSR was allied with Nazi Germany while they both invaded poland.