Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his daily address on Monday that Russia appears to have forgotten the lessons of World War II, in yet another series of strong remarks amid Moscow’s offensive and Kyiv’s resistance as the war enters its tenth week. “I don’t know what to say…No one has heard Moscow deny or justify anything.” All we have from there is silence, implying that the Russian leadership has forgotten all of World War II’s lessons. “Or maybe they never learned those lessons,” the 44-year-old leader speculated.
1. The statement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that German dictator Adolf Hitler “had Jewish blood” has sparked widespread outrage. “How can Nazification exist if we’re Jewish?” they ask. Hitler, in my opinion, also had Jewish ancestors, so it doesn’t mean everything. “We’ve been hearing from Jewish people for a long time that the biggest antisemites were Jewish,” he was quoted as saying in reports.
2. Zelensky, who is also a Jew, reacted angrily to the comments. Israel, which has a Jewish majority, also requested an apology.
3. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Lavrov’s remarks were “completely unacceptable.” “You’re not deceiving anyone.” “Russia’s crimes are as clear as day for the rest of the world to see,” he said, according to the Associated Press. He is the United States’ highest-ranking Jewish elected official.
4. The United States has warned that Russia is preparing to formally annex embattled eastern regions of the war-torn country. After Moscow failed to capture Kyiv, the war’s focus has shifted to Odessa, a cultural centre near the Black Sea, and rebel-held regions in the east.
5. According to reports, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will deliver an address to parliament on Tuesday that will compare the eastern European country’s struggle to Britain’s during World War II. He is expected to tell parliament that the fight against the Russian invasion is Ukraine’s “finest hour.”
6. The European Union is set to tighten sanctions against Russia over oil sales, following a major shift by Germany on Monday.
7. “I spoke with my German counterpart @ABaerbock and thanked her for supporting a Russian oil embargo.” Germany is an important part of the preparations for this move. “I also emphasised that granting Ukraine EU candidate status is in Ukraine’s, Germany’s, and Europe’s best interests,” Ukraine foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted.
8. US President Joe Biden, who is pushing for a $33 billion aid package for the war-torn country, has expressed interest in visiting, but has no immediate plans, according to the White House.
9. The evacuation of civilians from Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant is one of the most recent flashpoints between the two countries. The movement of civilians has been disrupted by Russian shelling, according to Ukraine.
According to the United Nations, the number of people displaced by the war has risen to 5.5 million.
