Avatar photo

By Cheryl Kahla

Content Strategist


He ‘also had Jewish blood’: Russia’s Lavrov compares Zelensky to Hitler

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said like President Zelensky, Hitler also had Jewish blood. 'His Jewishness does not negate his Nazism'.


Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said like President Volodymyr Zelensky, Adolf Hitler ‘also had Jewish blood’.

Lavrov was asked on Italy’s Rete 4 channel to back Russia’s ‘denazify Ukraine’ statement since President Zelensky is Jewish.

The full interview can be viewed below.

Russian FM sparks controversy

‘Adolf Hitler had Jewish blood too’

Lavrov shrugged off Zelensky’s Jewish origin and said it didn’t matter because “Hitler also had Jewish blood, so it means nothing”.

“For a long time now, we’ve been hearing the wise Jewish people say that the biggest anti-Semites are the Jews themselves,” he added.

“His Jewishness does not negate his Nazism”.


Follow our live blog for the latest Russia-Ukraine developments


Israel demands apology

On Monday, Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid slammed his Russian counterpart for the “unforgivable and scandalous comment”.

“This is a terrible historical error, and we expect an apology”, Lapid said. “The Jews did not murder themselves in the Holocaust.”

Lavrov said President Zelensky’s Jewishness did not justify Russia’s intention to ‘denazify’ Ukraine.

Insult to victims of real Nazism

Meanwhile, Dani Dayan – chairman of Israel Holocaust Memorial Yad Vashem – slammed Lavrov’s remarks as “an insult and a severe blow to the victims of the real Nazism”.

Dayan said Lavrov was spreading “an antisemitic conspiracy theory with no basis in fact” on Israel’s Kan radio.

He said it is “among other things, a complete distortion of the history and a serious affront to the victims of Nazism”.

Israel’s stance on ‘Adolf Hitler’ comment

A month after Russia invaded Ukraine, Zelensky called on Israel for support and asked the Jewish state to supply his nation with weapons. Israel sent bulletproof vests and helmets.

On 20 March, demonstrators gathered at Habima Square in the centre of Israel’s Mediterranean coastal city of Tel Aviv ahead of President Zelensky’s televised address.

Some of the protest signs depicted the superimposed face of President Vladimir Putin atop the signature moustache of Nazi Germany’s leader Adolf Hitler.

Read more on these topics

Russia Ukraine

For more news your way

Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.