Europe 1 with AFP 11:20 a.m., January 27, 2023

On the 337th day of the war in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin accuses Ukrainians of neo-Nazi crimes on Holocaust Victims Day.

For his part, the father of Novak Djokovic, at the center of a controversy linked to pro-Russian supporters at the Australian Open, announced that he would not attend his son's semi-final.

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Vladimir Putin on Friday accused "neo-Nazis in Ukraine" of committing crimes against civilians, on the occasion of the international day of victims of the Holocaust, a rhetoric that the Russian president regularly uses to justify his military offensive.

"Forgetting the lessons of history leads to the repetition of terrible tragedies. The proof of this is the crimes against civilians, the ethnic cleansing (and) the punitive actions organized by the neo-Nazis in Ukraine", denounced Mr. Putin in a communicated.

"It is against this evil that our soldiers are fighting courageously" in Ukraine, he added.

The main information to remember:

  • Putin accuses 'neo-Nazis in Ukraine' of committing crimes against civilians

  • Under pressure from Ukraine, Novak Djokovic's father will not attend his son's semi-final

Novak Djokovic's father will not attend his son's semi-final

Srdjan Djokovic, at the center of a controversy at the Australian Open linked to pro-Russian fans, announced that he was giving up attending his son Novak's semi-final on Friday in Melbourne, so as not to stir up the tensions.

“I am here only to support my son,” he wrote in a press release, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, in response to the controversy of the past 24 hours.

"I had no intention of making headlines or causing any disruption (…). So that there was no disruption during the semi-final for my son or his opponent, I chose to watch the match from home", finally decided the father of the Serbian superstar.

Earlier, Ukrainian Ambassador to Australia Vasyl Myroshnychenko called on Novak Djokovic, who faces American Tommy Paul in the semi-finals of the tournament on Friday, to personally apologize and clarify his stance on the Russian invasion of Israel. Ukraine.

"It is important that Novak addresses this situation," he stressed.

"He should apologize for what happened and condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine."

A video posted on a pro-Russian Australian YouTube account on Thursday showed Srdjan Djokovic posing outside the stadium with a man holding a Russian flag with the face of President Vladimir Putin.

The video was captioned: 'Novak Djokovic's father makes bold political statement'.

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Serbian sports journalists have confirmed that it was indeed Djokovic father.

Another man was photographed by AFP inside the stadium during a game with Djokovic wearing a T-shirt bearing the pro-war Russian symbol "Z".

According to the Ukrainian ambassador, this new non-sporting controversy is likely to overshadow Djokovic's performance at the Australian Open, a year after he was expelled from the country for entering the country without being vaccinated against Covid-19 .

"At the last Open, we only talked about Djokovic," said the Ukrainian diplomat.

"Now we only talk about Russian flags and Djokovic too".

Former Ukrainian player Alex Dolgopolov, who is currently fighting with his country's army, called Djokovic father's behavior on Twitter "absolutely disgusting".

Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, beaten in the Australian Open semi-finals, called Srdjan Djokovic's behavior "very shocking".

"I don't know, I don't understand, it really hurts and I don't understand how it can be possible."