In commemorating the end of World War II in Europe, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi on Wednesday compared his country’s defense against the Russian invasion to Ukrainian efforts to defeat Nazi Germany.
“80 years ago, millions of Ukrainians fought to defeat Nazism once and for all,” Zelensky said in a video message recorded as he visited the town of Yahidne in Chernihiv Oblast, where Russian occupiers committed a war crime in 2022.
“But today, Ukrainians are again fighting against evil, which has been reborn, has returned and wants to destroy us again,” Zelensky said.
In March 2022, the Russian occupiers imprisoned more than 350 local residents, including 80 children, in the basement of the school in Jahidne for several weeks. This case has been documented not only by Ukrainians, but also by international media organizations. 10 people died in that confinement, and 17 more were killed by the occupiers, Zelensky said.
Zelensky believes that these events have shown what Russia is like under its President Vladimir Putin. “If this is not Nazism, then what is?” Zelensky asked in an emotional video.
The president reminded that the Ukrainian army freed Yahidni at the end of March 2022. He sees this as a sign that history may repeat itself, as in the case of the victory over the Nazis: “Anyone who came to destroy us will eventually flee from the land of Ukraine.”
