Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, previously holding the position from 1999 until 2008. He was also the Prime Minister of Russia from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2012.
German embassy to Russia: Don’t lecture us on Nazis, we’re experts already
March 5, 2022At the time of writing, the tweet has received over 146,000 likes.Related: Gay dating app asks users to help Ukrainians and is blown away by responseRussian authorities have repeatedly made claims about fighting Nazis in Ukraine to defend their full-scale invasion of the country.Ahead of the invasion, President Vladimir Putin gave a video speech to his security council, saying Russia had to overthrow the “drug addicts and neo-Nazis” in Ukraine.There are some Ukrainians with ultra-nationalist and right-wing extremist views.
Following the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014, several volunteer militia groups formed, including one known as the Azov Battalion.
It was formed by a white nationalist and some of its members say they hold neo-Nazi views.However, the broader “Azov Movement” has had very little success in attempts to achieve political power (supported by around 2% of the electorate, according to one estimate).
Instead, former comedian Volodymyr Zelenskyy became President in 2019. Zelenskyy is Jewish, and has spoken of losing several family members in the Holocaust.Zelenskyy responded to Putin’s comment by saying, “How could I be a Nazi?”Despite this, Russian state media have continually pushed the message that Russia’s action in Ukraine is to rid the country of neo-Nazis.Related: Lindsey Graham just made Marjorie Taylor Greene seem sane by comparisonThe invasion began almost two weeks ago.
