Holocaust Remembrance Day | Volodymyr Zelenskyy says ‘indifference kills along with hatred’
The Hindu
Vladimir Putin repeated a claim that neo-Nazis were committing crimes in Ukraine — an allegation Moscow has used to justify its military intervention
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy marked Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27, 2023 by urging the world to unite against “indifference” and “hatred,” nearly one year into Russia’s invasion of his country.
“Today, as always, Ukraine honours the memory of millions of victims of the Holocaust. We know and remember that indifference kills along with hatred,” Mr. Zelenskyy said in a video statement.
Mr. Zelenskyy, who is of Jewish descent and from the pre-dominantly Russian-speaking south of the country, did not refer directly to Russia’s invasion in his address.
Moscow has routinely accused Ukraine of harbouring neo-Nazis and justified its invasion saying the country needed to be “de-Nazified”.
It also employed World War II-era terminology to accuse Ukraine of carrying out a “genocide” of Russian speakers in the eastern Donbas region.
Russian President Vladimir Putin repeated a claim that neo-Nazis were committing crimes in Ukraine — an allegation Moscow has used to justify its military intervention — as the world marked Holocaust Remembrance Day.
“Forgetting the lessons of history leads to the repetition of terrible tragedies,” Mr. Putin said.