Zelensky: Putin's Nazi lie may show he's 'in an information bubble'
When Russian President Vladimir Putin held a pro-war rally last week in a Moscow arena, a banner over the stage blared: "For a world without Nazism. For Russia."
Much of Russia's justification for war is based on this claim. Putin has portrayed the Ukrainian government as "a gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis," as "little Nazis" and "openly neo-Nazi." The Kremlin is vowing to "de-Nazify" Ukraine by force. The Kremlin’s messaging has been remarkably consistent on this point.
The point is also clearly false: Ukraine's democratic government has one of the few Jewish leaders on the world stage. In contrast, it is Russia's increasingly autocratic government that is distorting reality to justify invading its neighbors.
In a Sunday interview with CNN host Fareed Zakaria, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the false Nazism allegation at length, bringing up his family history battling the Nazis and accusing the Kremlin of deploying Nazi-like military tactics.
"There are rare occasions when I smile, when I laugh. And for me, to hear it, it's as if [it's] something similar to a joke," Zelensky said of the absurdity of the charge, speaking through an interpreter.
He then paused and raised a darker thought: What if Putin believes this?
"I think that currently Putin is in an information bubble. I think this is [an] information bunker, and if it is so powerful, this bunker of information, that he really thinks Ukrainians are neo-Nazis — this is a laughable statement for me — then a strike of fear resurfaces," Zelensky said.
"Then many questions emerge about what else he is capable of doing for the sake of his ambitions,” he said. “So this is what gives rise to a feeling which is not very pleasant and which is very frightening, very hazardous. It can be an information bubble which will continue to exert pressure."
Zelensky recalled his own family history during World War II. He described how his grandfather and his grandfather's four brothers all went to war against the Nazis, who had invaded the Soviet Union with the largest military force in history. Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union, was fully occupied.
"My grandfather was graduating from the military college at the time, and all of his brothers went to war," Zelensky said. "They had to fight fascism. So they went to war. All of the brothers died. And my grandfather survived the entire war. His father and his mother were killed in a terrible fire. The Nazis set ablaze the entire village where they lived and my grandfather was born," he added, touting his grandfather's medals for heroism and bravery.
Zelensky asked if all the Russians who are calling him a Nazi could say the same thing about their own family histories.
"When some politicians in the Russian Federation are raising this topic of neo-Nazis and fascism related to me ... my biography is open. Everyone is well aware of my biography. You can find facts about my family in open sources. But what about the relatives of Russians?" he said.
He also accused Russia's military of using tactics reminiscent of Nazi Germany, which infamously blockaded the Soviet city of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). About 1.5 million people died in the years-long siege. Putin was born there, and his ancestors suffered at the Wehrmacht’s hands.
In their current war, the Russians have blockaded the strategic Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, which is experiencing a humanitarian crisis with little food or water remaining. Bunkers housing civilians there have been bombed. Hope among the survivors is rapidly running out.
"Russians are acting in the same manner as neo-Nazis at the moment,” Zelensky charged. “If you take a look at the history ... you can just look at what Nazis did. They blockaded Kyiv. They blocked other cities to prevent the supplies of water and food. This is what Russians are doing now. This is what they are doing in Mariupol.
“Everyone knows how many people died during the blockade of Leningrad,” he added. “The people did not have enough food and water. This is exactly what is happening in Ukraine. So who is the Nazi?"
Marjorie Taylor Greene questions
whether US funding for Ukraine
will fall 'into the hands of Nazis'
Brent D. Griffiths
Tue, March 22, 2022,
Marjorie Taylor Greene questioned whether US aid to Ukraine would fall "into the hands of Nazis"
It was just one of her claims that mirrored the Kremlin's disinformation and talking points.
Greene's words come as other far-right figures express sympathy for some of Russia's views.
Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene questioned on Tuesday whether the US' nearly $14 billion in emergency aid for Ukraine will fall "into the hands of Nazis" and blamed Ukraine for Russia's invasion, echoing claims Russian leader Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin have used to defend the war.
"It's shocking to me that Congress is so willing to funnel $14 billion in military equipment over and over again into Ukraine and you have to ask, is this money and is this United States military equipment falling into the hands of Nazis in Ukraine?" Greene, who is from Georgia, told BKP politics, a local conservative talk show.
Putin defended his war by claiming it was aimed at "de-nazifying" Ukraine, which historians and experts have repeatedly debunked. It's true that Ukraine is home to some ultranationalist movements. But as Olga Lautman, a senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, told NPR they make up a small fraction of the Ukrainian population. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also Jewish and has family members who were killed in the Holocaust.
Lawmakers rushed to include the aid for Ukraine in a $1.5 trillion must-pass government spending bill. Before its passage, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell praised the news that lawmakers had significantly increased funding for Ukraine.
Greene said a slew of US officials, including the late-Sen. John McCain, are to blame for pushing Ukraine to move toward the west. She added that Ukraine would have been better off it had stayed neutral like Finland. Putin also said the invasion was necessary due to NATO's expansion. Greene said she wanted to make sure it's clear that she is not a Putin sympathizer.
"Now, you see Ukraine just kept poking the bear, poking the bear, which is Russia and Russia invaded," Greene said. "Russia is being very successful in their invasion even though we hear different things on television — the things we see and we know are actually happening there, I don't see a way out for Ukraine."
But Greene also ignored recent history in blaming the US for Ukraine's actions. Her comments come as other far-right figures express sympathy for some of Russia's views. Rep. Madison Cawthorn, a Republican from North Carolina, was widely admonished by top party leaders for calling Zelenskyy a "thug."
It was the Ukrainian people who rose up in 2014 and ousted a Kremlin-ally from power. Russia responded shortly thereafter by backing an invasion of Crimea. It was also Russia that told the world its troops in Belarus were there for training purposes before shelling Ukraine's largest cities. Zelenskyy applied for emergency admission to NATO and the European Union only after Russian troops began their invasion. Zelenskyy has even suggested taking NATO membership off the table.
Greene also repeated the Kremlin's claims about biolabs in Ukraine. As The Washington Post documented, Russia has for years alleged nefarious activities at US-supported labs that study diseases and pathogens. Russia's focus on the labs comes amid western fears of a potential chemical weapon attack. US officials have repeatedly stressed that the US backs medical research. This is fundamentally different than the development of offensive bioweapons, the existence of which is outlawed by international treaties. Moscow has been accused in recent years of deploying chemical weapons.
"I'm working on a bill to ban all US funding of bioweapons," Greene said. "After two years of COVID-19 ... we should be very cognizant of how US tax dollars are being spent on biolabs and be very, very persistent to be sure they're never being spent on bioweapons."
A spokesperson for Greene didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
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