Ukraine's chief rabbi responds to Putin's remark about Zelenskyy

The chief rabbi of Ukraine, Moshe Azman, has responded to Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin, who has called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "a disgrace to the Jewish people".

Source: Moshe Azman in a comment for UNIAN

Quote: "I can personally say that I am proud of President Zelenskyy for not running away and doing everything he can to help the Ukrainian people. And I’m not the only one. I think the whole world is proud of him."

Details: He added that there are no neo-Nazis in Ukraine. "In Ukraine there are decent people who are defending their homeland," Moshe Azman said.

Update: Well-known Ukrainian oligarch Victor Pinchuk also sprang to Zelenskyy’s defence in a post on Facebook.

Quote: "Today the Ruscist dictator called the President of our state a ‘disgrace to the Jewish people’. I am a citizen of Ukraine, I am a Jew, and in many years of talking with Jews from all over the world, I have only heard positive opinions of Volodymyr Zelenskyy."

Details: According to Pinchuk, everyone he has talked to says they are proud of the president, and Jews from different countries have expressed genuine admiration for him.

Quote: "This isn’t about his ethnicity – it’s about the fact that today, Zelenskyy is the embodiment of the fight for freedom. And freedom is one of the main values of the Jewish people."

Details: Pinchuk pointed out that the election of a Jew as president vividly demonstrates the "fundamental difference between free, democratic Ukraine and the anti-Semitic Ruscist empire".

Quote: "The Jews of Ukraine are part of the Ukrainian people. They are bravely fighting at the fronts, sacrificing their lives and contributing to bringing Ukraine’s victory closer, whatever our enemy’s ‘Jewish friends’ might say. He didn’t name them, but their names can probably be found on all the international sanctions lists."

Background: On 16 June, the president of the aggressor country, the Russian Federation, said that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was "a disgrace to the Jewish people".

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