The Russian Foreign Ministry building in Moscow. Photo/Natalya Seliverstova/Sputnik
MOSCOW – The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Kemlu) summoned Israel’s charge d’affaires Ronen Kraus on Tuesday (27/6/2023) over comments made by the Israeli Ambassador to Ukraine Michael Brodsky.
Ambassador Brodsky said Ukraine’s celebration of World War II-era Nazi collaborators was “realistically unstoppable.”
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Kraus was reminded of how Russia and Israel have “done a lot to resist attempts to rewrite history and glorify Nazi collaborators” in the past.
The Russian side emphasized the need for a “firm evaluation” of those who took inspiration from historical Ukrainian nationalists, such as Stepan Bandera and Roman Shekhevich, to “encourage Russophobia.”
Various Ukrainian nationalist groups collaborated with Adolf Hitler’s forces during the first years of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union and committed numerous atrocities against Russians, Jews, Poles, and Ukrainians who sided with Moscow.
Bandera, a co-leader of the Ukrainian Nationalist Organization (OUN), and Shukhevich, who served in the German-administered Nachtigall Battalion and later commanded the Ukrainian Rebel Army (UPA), are hailed as heroes and freedom fighters by current Ukrainian officials.
Israeli officials have repeatedly protested the glorification of Ukrainian figures involved in the Holocaust.
However, Ambassador Brodsky said last week that, although he disapproved of Kiev’s position on World War II-era nationalists, “for the majority of Ukrainians, these are heroes fighting for independence.”
He further said Israel should not provide support to Ukraine for its treatment of historical events.
Unlike many Western countries, Israel refuses to send weapons to Ukraine and provides only non-lethal assistance. The country has also refused to impose sanctions on Moscow.
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2023-06-28 08:15:26
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