Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky takes questions at a press conference on April 23, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo: John Moore via Getty Images
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Fox News on Wednesday that Russia's attempts to smear him with comparisons to Adolf Hitler are a form of propaganda modeled after Joseph Goebbels' tactics, which indoctrinated German people in antisemitic Nazi ideologies.
Why it matters: Zelensky, who is Jewish, is a regular target of Russian disinformation campaigns. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attempted to justify the comparison to Hitler on Sunday by falsely claiming that Hitler had "Jewish blood" — prompting Israel's government to publicly rebuke him.
- The Russian government has pushed the false narrative that Ukraine is dominated by Nazis and used it to justify the unprovoked invasion.
What he's saying: "These are the showings of chauvinism and nationalism," Zelensky told Fox News' Griff Jenkins through an interpreter.
- "They are following the same concept of the Goebbels and using the same methodology, and the reaction I think is to weaken the world to these phrases of Lavrov."
- He reiterated the need for President Biden to visit Kyiv to witness the atrocities committed in places like Bucha and Borodyanka.
- "I think it's very important because, you know, in our minds, in our society, the President Biden is the president of the biggest democratic civilization for Ukrainians," he said in English.
- Zelensky also issued a condemnation to all world leaders, noting that every year on the Holocaust Remembrance Day there is talk of "never again" and yet Ukrainians continue to suffer.
The big picture: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a congressional delegation visited Kyiv and spoke with Zelensky last week amid growing pressure for the U.S. to send high-level officials to Ukraine's capital, after recent visits by U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the prime ministers of Spain and Denmark.
- First Lady Jill Biden is slated to travel to Eastern Europe this week to meet with U.S. service members, diplomats and displaced Ukrainian parents and children.
Go deeper... Dashboard: Russian invasion of Ukraine