At an economic forum in Saint Petersburg last Friday, Putin said: "I have a lot of Jewish friends. They say that Zelensky is not Jewish, that he is a disgrace to the Jewish people.
“This is not a joke and not an attempt at irony, because today neo-Nazis, Hitler’s disciples, have been put on a pedestal as heroes of Ukraine.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin (Photo: Getty)
The Russian president went on to say Zelensky was “a man with Jewish blood” before adding that “he covers for these freaks, these neo-Nazis, with his actions.”
Critics including Ukraine's chief rabbi Moshe Reuven Azman hit out at President Putin after making the remarks.
Rabbi Azman said he was proud of Zelensky and added: “And not only me. I think the whole world is proud of him. He did not flee and is doing everything to help the Ukrainian people.”
The rabbi also said that there were no neo-Nazi forces in Ukraine. "There are decent people in Ukraine who are protecting their homeland," he was quoted as saying.
Ukrainian businessman and philanthropist Victor Pinchuk, who stressed he was of Jewish heritage himself, said: "Today Zelensky is the embodiment of the fight for freedom. And freedom is one of the main values of the Jewish people."
The American Jewish Committee tweeted: "Putin's attempt to smear President Zelensky's Jewish heritage is a desperate and disgraceful move."
Rabbi Moshe Reuven Azman (Photo: Handout)
Zelensky's faith has been a recurring theme throughout the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with Russian officials claiming that their "Special Operation" in Ukraine was part of a push to "De-Nazify" the country from its Jewish leaders.
In a 2020 interview with the Times of Israel, Zelensky said he grew up in an “ordinary Soviet Jewish family,” which was to say, not very religious, since “religion didn’t exist in the Soviet state as such.”
When running for Ukraine president in 2019, Zelensky said: “The fact that I am a Jew is about the 20th question among my characteristics.”
It comes after Moscow claims Ukraine's treatment of Russian speakers in the western-backed country is comparable to the actions of Nazi Germany.
These allegations have been contested by the Ukrainian government and the country's Jewish community.
Putin said Moscow "must fight" neo-Nazism, adding that Russia had suffered enormous losses during the country's fight against Nazi Germany in World War II.
"We will never forget it," Putin said. "Why is no one listening to us?".
