Amid Russian aggression, Ukraine's president invokes Judaism to gain support
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Jerusalem: Volodymyr Zelensky invokes his faith to rally support for his country by posting in Hebrew online and appealing to Jews to "cry out" in response to the Russian invasion.
During an interview with the Times of Israel in 2020, the 44-year-old comedian-turned-president said he was "an ordinary... Jew from a non-religious family."
In addition to describing religion as a personal matter, he has also sworn his presidential oath on the Bible.
Zelensky, however, has made explicit references to Judaism in stirring social media posts calling for support for Ukraine since Russia's invasion began on February 24.
The Ukrainian president was outraged on Wednesday after a Russian helicopter attacked a TV mast next to Babi Yar, the site of a Nazi genocide in which over 30,000 Jews were killed during World War II.
It is very important for Jewish people around the world not to stay silent in the face of such atrocities. I am calling on all the Jews in the world to join me in this.
He wrote in Hebrew on the Telegram messaging service, "because Nazism was born in silence.".