Zelensky fires five ambassadors, including controversial ambassador to Germany
Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky fired five ambassadors on Saturday. These are the delegates in Germany, Norway, the Czech Republic, Hungary and India. Reasons for the layoffs were not given.
The resignation of Andri Melnyk, ambassador to Germany, is particularly noteworthy. Melnyk is accused in Germany of downplaying the Holocaust because of his statements about a well-known Ukrainian nationalist. During an interview, Melnyk spoke highly of Stepan Bandera, a Ukrainian who led a group of radical nationalists during World War II believed to be responsible for the mass murder of Jews and Poles.
Melnyk called Bandera a freedom fighter instead of a mass murderer, something that came under heavy criticism from, among others, the Israeli embassy in Germany. Melnyk previously made the news with his statements about German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whom he called an “offended liver sausage”.