Jerusalem Post
One of Russia’s most influential Jews was quoted in Russian media supporting President Vladimir Putin’s claims of his “military operation bringing about the ‘Denazification’ of Ukraine. “In recent years there has been a systematic glorification of Nazi criminals, torchlight marches and the like” said Rabbi Alexander Boroda, who serves as chairman of the Board of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia (FJCR). He spoke to the Russian news agency Interfax on March 4. During the interview, he expressed “bewilderment at the fact that neo-Nazism was actively asserting itself in a country like Ukraine.” Boroda is considered to be the second most influential Jew in Russia and in the Jewish community there, working hand in hand with Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar. Both of them are members of Chabad and are considered to be confidants of Putin. Most Russian rabbis and leaders have been exceptionally quiet during the current war with Ukraine, therefore Boroda’s statement is out of the ordinary. “War crimes were crossed out, forgotten, and there was only a mention of the conditionally creative activities of individual leaders who advocated the nationalization of the state,” the board chairman said in the interview. THE RUSSIAN rabbi explained that he sees a complicated situation in Ukraine. “It is difficult to understand that in Ukraine, where there is a fairly large and largely prosperous Jewish community, the glorification of criminals responsible for the death of the ancestors of those Jews is going on in parallel.”
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