Ukraine's president throws the Nazi label back at Vladimir Putin after Russia's 'evil' invasion

published 24 February 2022

Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed his invasion of Ukraine early Thursday would achieve the "demilitarization and de-Nazification of Ukraine." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is Jewish and not a Nazi, threw the Nazi label back at Putin a few hours later, accusing Russia of acting like Nazi Germany, not literally being full of Nazis.

Putin and his aides keep using the Nazi slur against Ukraine's government because it hits Russians "in the gut," former U.S. Ambassador Michael McFaul explained on MSNBC early Thursday. "The most important event for Russian and Soviet citizens is something called the Great Patriotic War — we call it World War II. That was the defeat of Nazis, where they lost millions of people. Every single Russian today has a relative that died in that war"

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.

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