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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made an appeal for assistance to Congress on Wednesday.

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A banner over the stage blared "For a world without Nazism" when Russian President Vladimir Putin held a pro-war rally last week. For Russia.

This claim is used by Russia to justify war. The Ukrainian government has been portrayed as a gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis by Putin. The Kremlin's messaging has been consistent on this point.

One of the few Jewish leaders on the world stage is from the democratic government of Ukraine. Russia's increasingly autocratic government distorts reality to justify invading its neighbors.

Russian President Vladimir Putin at a Kremlin meeting.
Russian President Vladimir Putin at a Kremlin meeting on Monday. (Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)

In a Sunday interview with CNN host Fareed Zakaria, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky talked about his family's fight against the Nazis and accused the Kremlin of using Nazi-like military tactics.

Sometimes I smile and sometimes I laugh. Zelensky said of the absurdity of the charge, speaking through an interpreter, that it was as if it was a joke.

He wondered if Putin believed this.

I believe that Putin is in an information bubble. I think this is an information Bunker, and if it is so powerful, that he really thinks Ukrainians are neo-Nazis, then this is a laughable statement for me.

He said that many questions emerge about what else he is capable of doing for the sake of his ambitions. It can be an information bubble that will exert pressure.

Zelensky talked about his family history during World War II. The Nazis invaded the Soviet Union with the largest military force in history, and his grandfather and his four brothers went to war against them. The Soviet Union fully occupied Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky makes a virtual speech on the Russia-Ukraine war on March 17 from Kyiv..
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky makes a virtual speech on March 17 from Kyiv. (Ukrainian Presidency/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Zelensky said that his grandfather was graduating from the military college when his brothers went to war. They went to war. The brothers all died. My grandfather was in the war. His parents were killed in a fire. The village where my grandfather was born was set ablaze by the Nazis.

Zelensky wondered if the Russians who are calling him a Nazi could say the same thing about their own family histories.

When some politicians in the Russian Federation raise the topic of neo-Nazis and fascists related to me, my biography is open. Everyone knows about my biography. Facts about my family can be found in open sources. He asked about the relatives of Russians.

He accused Russia of using tactics reminiscent of Nazi Germany, which blockaded the Soviet city of Leningrad. 1.5 million people died in the siege. Putin's ancestors suffered at the hands of the Wehrmacht.

The Russian blockade of Mariupol is causing a humanitarian crisis with little food or water remaining. The Bunkers housing civilians have been bombed. There is little hope among the survivors.

A screengrab captured from a video shows destroyed buildings and vehicles after Russian attacks in Mariupol, Ukraine, on March 21.
Destroyed buildings and vehicles after Russian attacks in Mariupol, Ukraine, on Monday. (AA/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Zelensky said that Russians are acting the same way as neo-Nazis. They blockaded the city. They stopped the supplies of water and food in other cities. This is what Russians are doing. They are doing this in Mariupol.

The people did not have enough food and water. This is happening in Ukraine. Who is the Nazi?

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What happened this week in Ukraine? Check out this explainer from Yahoo Immersive to find out.

  • The city of Mariupol, the last EU diplomat to leave the besieged Ukrainian port, is joining the list of places destroyed in wars of the past. The man who helped dozens of Greek nationals and ethnic Greeks leave the ruined city said he hoped no one would ever see what he saw.

  • Russia said on Monday that it had struck a shopping centre in the Ukrainian city of Kyiv because it was being used as a rocket store and reloading station. The shopping centre was attacked late on Sunday, killing at least eight people and leaving a trail of destruction, including smoking piles of rubble and the twisted wreck of burned-out cars spread over hundreds of metres.

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  • The attack on the U.S. on January 6, 2021, is being investigated by a House panel.

  • The Russians were looking for us. They had a list of names and were closing in.

  • Swiss authorities have seized a luxury mountain home believed to be owned by a Russian oligarch as bankers and officials work overtime to track assets of people linked to Moscow in retribution for the invasion of Ukraine. The property office in Bern said it believed the flat was owned by a close associate of Putin and a major shareholder of Alfa. Aven did not respond to an email seeking comment but last month he said he would contest the European Union sanctions.

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  • Donald Trump was enraged by pointed criticism from the Republican representing South Carolina's 1st Congressional District.

  • The Belgorod region of Russia has set up collection points where citizens can drop off donations of socks, medicine and canned food for Russian troops fighting in Ukraine, according to messages from the officials seen by reporters. Russian troops already had everything they needed, but the local administrations decided to accommodate the citizens' wishes since they had expressed a desire to help.

  • A European Union oil embargo would have a serious impact on the global oil market and the European energy balance.

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  • Iran's supreme leader on Monday signaled support for Tehran's nuclear negotiations to secure sanctions relief, a rare reference to the still-halted talks as world powers near a diplomatic turning point. During a televised speech on the occasion of Nowruz, the Persian New Year, the supreme leader of Iran stressed the importance of Iranian economic self-sufficiency. The negotiations to restore Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers have been largely silent on the part of Iran's supreme leader, who has the final say on all state matters.

  • In a story shared on Beckham's accounts, child anesthesiologist Iryna said that doctors and nurses were worried, but they wouldn't give up.

  • It should not have taken six years for London to get her release from Tehran because she was treated like a political pawn, the aid worker said on Monday. At a news conference in parliament in London, the 44-year-old said she would always be haunted by her time in prison but would slowly work to rebuild her life with her daughter, 7, and husband away from the spotlight. After being held in Iran for six years after being convicted of plotting to overthrow the clerical establishment, British-Iranian woman, Zaghari-Ratcliffe, returned to Britain last week.

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  • The confirmation hearings are on Capitol Hill.

  • There is new evidence that Edward VIII helped the Nazis after being forced to abdicate.

  • The historic center of Kyiv, which is usually bustling with tourists and souvenir stalls around its pastel-colored buildings and golden domed churches, is mostly empty these days. The city is placed under curfew from 8 pm to 6 am, and it is dark and silent at night. In the first weeks of war, nearly half of the population left the city in a chaotic exodus that blocked the roads and swamped the central train station. An estimate of how many people remained.

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  • As Chinese state media pushes the war in Ukraine, our conversations are more fraught.

  • Some military veterans demanded an apology from one of the candidates for saying a rival who did two tours in Iraq never worked in the private sector. There was a heated argument during the debate for the GOP nomination to replace Rob Portman. The debate became more intense as soon as Josh Mandel attacked Mike Gibbons.

  • Zelensky said neither he nor his people could accept some of the demands of Russia.

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  • All rights to Alice Diop's We (Nous) in the United States and multiple territories across Europe, Latin America and Asia have been acquired by Arthouse streamer and theatrical distributor Mubi. We was the winner of the Section Encounters at the Berlinale.

  • Maj. Gen. Ernest Litynski has been in the Army for nearly 30 years. He is best known among soldiers and his superiors for his campaign to illuminate mental health issues among troops, which often leads to tragedy. In meetings with new formations of Army Reserve troops, he might first talk about physical fitness and training before moving on to the story of his own unraveling after he returned.

  • The German naval commander was given notice to sail five warships under his command to the former Soviet Republic of Latvia to protect the most vulnerable part of NATO's eastern flank. As the navy's top boss phrased it, the hasty dispatch was part of Germany's scramble to send everything that can swim out to sea to defend an area military strategists have long deemed the weakest point for the alliance. The sudden departure of the vessels showed how NATO, and Germany, were propelled by Russia's invasion into a new reality and face what officials, diplomats, intelligence officials and security sources agree is the most serious threat to the alliance's collective security since the Cold War.