The president of Ukraine has dismissed the country’s controversial ambassador to Germany.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy recalled Andriy Melnyk Saturday. The president’s move follows recent remarks by Melnyk, defending Stepan Bandera, a Ukranian who collaborated with the Nazis when they occupied Ukraine during World War II.
Melnyk said in an interview that Bandera, a leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists during the war, was not a mass murderer of Jews and Poles.
There was a public outcry from Germany, Poland and Israel, following Melnyk’s remarks.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry also distanced itself from Melnyk’s remarks, saying in a statement that Melnyk’s remarks did “not reflect the position of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.”
