DISINFO: Zelenskyy betrays Jews by siding with far-right
SUMMARY
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is ethnically Jewish, is a traitor to his own people for siding with the far-right. Kyiv’s Western backers pushed him in that direction. Following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin described the “denazification” of the neighboring country as one of the goals of Moscow’s military action.
RESPONSE
This is a mix of several recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives such as Nazi Ukraine and the war as a proxy war against Russia, all aimed to justify Russia’s unprovoked aggression against Ukraine.
The baseless allegation that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a “traitor to Jews” suggests that he is supporting Nazism in Ukraine. Ukraine’s Jewish community have largely sided with the country’s authorities and Zelenskyy’s government, with many of its members joining armed resistance against Russia’s invasion. Labelling Russia’s adversaries as Nazis is a frequently used pro-Kremlin disinformation technique, and has been used by Russia to try to justify the invasion of Ukraine by portraying it as a “denazification operation”.
Further, Moscow's aim with the attempt at injecting a "Jewish" dimension is to drive a wedge between President Zelenskyy and Jewish communities internationally, not least in the U.S. and among Democrats. Moscow has a track record for stimulating antisemitism when it deems it useful.
By claiming that it was the West who pushed Zelenskyy in this direction, this disinformation story is also implying Ukraine’s submission to the West in an effort against Russia. But Ukraine is acting in self-defence in response to Russia’s unjustified invasion, in accordance with UN Charter article 51, and in this effort it received military and technical assistance from a broad coalition of more than 50 nations.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that Nazi Germany is the ideological predecessor of modern Nazi Ukraine, that Nazi Europe's fight against Russia via Ukraine is a fight against the memory of Nazi defeat, that Zelenskyy acquired Hitler’s Eagle's Nest in Kelsteinhaus, or that Russia aims to denazify Ukraine and disarm its terrorist regime.