Since the moment the Russian invasion of Ukraine began nearly two weeks ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed his primary motivation for the violence is to "de-Nazify" Ukraine.
It's an absurd claim with no basis in reality—Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is Jewish—and while Ukraine does have a far-right Neo-Nazi contingent, it is far smaller than most Western countries including the United States.
Nevertheless, Russia has continued spinning its tales about Nazis controlling Ukraine, but one German embassy has had enough.
After the Russian embassy in South Africa posted a tweet thanking South Africans for supposedly supporting Russia in "fighting Nazism in Ukraine," the German embassy in South Africa clapped back with a perfectly worded rebuke.
See the tweets below.
The German embassy tweeted:
"Sorry, but we can't stay silent on this one, it's just far too cynical."
"What 🇷🇺 is doing in 🇺🇦 is slaughtering innocent children, women and men for its own gain."
"It's definitely not 'fighting Nazism. Shame on anyone who's falling for this. (Sadly, we're kinda experts on Nazism.)"
The embassy's forceful response was a retort to the rhetoric in the Russian embassy's tweet, in which the organization even went so far as to compare Putin's invasion to the fight against Nazi Germany in World War II.
"Dear subscribers, we have received a great number of letters of solidarity from South Africans, both individuals and organizations."
"We appreciate your support and glad you decided to stand with us today, when Russia, like 80 years ago, is fighting Nazism in Ukraine! 🇷🇺"
As "experts on Nazism," the German embassy was likely equally galled by Russia's fast-and-loose interpretation of its involvement in World War II.
While Russia did fight Nazism "80 years ago," the Soviet Union did not begin fighting the Nazis until Hitler invaded Russia in 1941. Prior to that, Russia had a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany, which it honored while Hitler invaded Poland and France, launched a months-long Blitz on the United Kingdom and opened more and more concentration camps.
On Twitter, many applauded the German embassy for speaking truth in the face of Russia's propaganda and joined them in excoriating the Russian embassy for its tweet.
Despite the controversy, Putin and his regime have continued their "denazification" rhetoric even as they have begun bombing Jewish synagogues and Holocaust memorial centers in Ukrainian cities.
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