The European Union announced over the weekend a fresh raft of sanctions against individuals and entities linked to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, including a Moscow-born former Israeli diplomat and prominent commentator for espousing pro-Russian views, public broadcaster Kan reported Sunday morning.
Yaakov Kedmi — who previously served as the head of Nativ, Israel’s liaison group to Jews in the former Soviet Union — makes regular appearances on Russian television in which he justifies the Kremlin's policies and pushes claims that Ukraine is run by Nazi sympathizers.
According to an EU statement, Kedmi pushed claims the Ukrainian government is Nazi and that his support for Russia's policies "endangers its territorial integrity."
Speaking to Kan in an interview, the 74-year-old cast the decision as "stupidity" and a "cheap attempt" to silence him.
"This is a moral nadir that the [European] Union and their whole gang are reaching if these morons think that sanctioning me would make [Russian President Vladimir] Putin change Russia's policies," an incensed Kedmi told interviewers on a phone call.
"The sanctions are designed to change Russia's policies by their own admission... This is just a cheap attempt to silence people and [prevent me from] telling my truth."
When challenged on his claims that Ukrainian leadership subscribes to Nazi ideology, Kedmi said that "I see Ukrainian soldiers with Nazi tattoos and Nazi symbols on their uniform, those who murdered the Jews are now national heroes, there are military units bearing Nazi names.
"The Ukrainian regime is a Nazi regime. This regime honors and glorifies the Nazi collaborators who murdered the Jewish people. It's a fact that no one can deny," he said.
"Russia's goals are justified, the Ukrainian regime honors and glorifies Nazis and their collaborators. [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenksy reveres Bandera and Shukhevych," he added, referring to Ukrainian World War II nationalist leaders Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevych who have been accused of collaborating with the Nazis and committing atrocities against Jews, Russians and Poles.