Russia's foreign ministry office has again accused Israel of supporting neo-Nazis in Ukraine, rhetoric that threatens to take escalating tensions between Moscow and the Jewish state to new heights.
In an interview with Sputnik radio, Russia Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said a group of Israeli mercenaries have joined forces with a Ukrainian regiment and are consequently supporting "the neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv."
"I'll say something that the very politicians in Israel who are now inflating the information campaign are unlikely to want to hear – perhaps they will be interested: In Ukraine, Israeli mercenaries are actually shoulder to shoulder with the Azov militants," Zakharova said, adding she has witnessed video proof.
Earlier in the week, Russia Foreign Minister Lavrov defended claims made by Russian President Vladimir Putin as an apparent attempt to justify Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, dating back to Feb. 24.
Lavrov alleged the Russian forces are working to "de-nazify" regions that have been subject to oppression by Kyiv.
This prompted Zakharova to tell the Rossiya-24 TV channel that Lavrov was simply drawing attention to Israel "ignoring the growth of neo-Nazi ideology in Ukraine for years."
According to The Jerusalem Post, Lavrov recently claimed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has Jewish blood, "just like [Adolf] Hitler."
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid quickly condemned Lavrov's comments, via Twitter, characterizing the statements as "unforgivable and outrageous."
"Foreign Minister Lavrov's remarks are both an unforgivable and outrageous statement as well as a terrible historical error," Lapid tweeted. "Jews did not murder themselves in the Holocaust. The lowest level of racism against Jews is to accuse Jews themselves of antisemitism."
Israel, which has a sizable Russian population between its home borders, had previously refrained from imposing sanctions on Moscow — despite expressing public support of Kyiv and accusing the Russians of committing war crimes in Ukraine.