Zelensky Responds to Putin's Statement: 'He is a Disgrace to the Jewish People'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has responded to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s remark that “my Jewish friends say that Zelensky is not a Jew, but a disgrace to the Jewish people.” During an interview with the BBC, Zelensky, whose relatives, including his grandfather, perished in the Holocaust, appeared visibly taken aback by the reporter's question.

According to the source, the Ukrainian president took a deep breath, lowered his head, and after a few seconds, stated that he was unsure how to respond. “I apologize, but it seems he is the second king of anti-Semitism after Hitler. This is how a president speaks. The civilized world cannot speak like this. It was important for me to hear the world's response, and I am grateful for the support,” Zelensky said.

It is noteworthy that Putin made his statement during a plenary session at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum after responding to questions from the host. “My Jewish friends say that Zelensky is not a Jew, but a disgrace to the Jewish people,” Vladimir Putin stated. “He conceals those monsters—the neo-Nazis—with his actions,” Putin added in response to another question. On June 13, during a meeting with officers at the Kremlin, Putin had remarked about Zelensky: “I am generally astonished. As a person with Jewish blood who leads Ukraine, how can he support neo-Nazis? I simply do not understand this.”