Chief Rabbi of Ukraine Moshe Azman responded to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who called Kyiv leader Volodymyr Zelenskyi “a shame for the Jewish people,” writes Pravda with reference to Unian. Moshe Azman said that he is “proud” to be the president of Ukraine.

• “I can say that I am proud of President Zelensky, because he did not run away and is doing everything possible to help the Ukrainian people. And I’m not the only one. I think the whole world is proud of him,” said Unian, the chief rabbi of Ukraine.

He also stated that there are no neo-Nazis in Ukraine, but “decent people who defend their Motherland.”

And the well-known Ukrainian oligarch Viktor Pintsyuk came to the defense of Zelenskyi.

• “The Russian dictator called the president of our country a “disgrace to the Jewish people.”
• I am a citizen of Ukraine, I am a Jew, and over many years of discussions with Jews around the world, I have heard only positive feedback about Volodymyr Zelenskyi,” the Ukrainian oligarch wrote on Facebook, Pravda reports.

According to Pinchuk, everyone he spoke to said they were proud of Zelensky, and Jews from various countries allegedly expressed “genuine admiration” for him.

Putin: “Zelensky is a shame for the Jewish people”

What began as a speech about the Russian economy at the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg on Friday quickly turned into the topic of the war in Ukraine and accusations against Kyiv and Volodymyr Zelenskyi.

Vladimir Putin called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is of Jewish descent, “a disgrace to the Jewish people” and again accused Ukraine of being in the hands of neo-Nazis.

• “I had many Jewish friends since childhood. And they say that Zelensky is not a Jew, but a shame for the Jewish people. This is not a joke,” said Vladimir Putin, whose speech was broadcast live on Russian television.

He again accused the president of Ukraine of “covering those bloody neo-Nazis” and treating the collaborators of the Second World War as heroes. “Why aren’t they listening to us?” he asked rhetorically. “We have to fight this,” Putin said.