Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, has accused Russia of carrying out “a horrific rebuilding of Nazism.”

In a speech remembering WWII, he claimed that the Russian army replicated Nazi “atrocities” during its invasion of his nation.

“Darkness has returned to Ukraine and it has become black and white again,” he said in his video address.

Footage in the video showed the Ukrainian leader against a backdrop of destroyed residential buildings.

“Evil has returned, in a different uniform, under different slogans, but for the same purpose,” he added.

The video also featured archive footage of World War Two and black-and-white footage of Russia’s invasion.

When Ukraine was invaded by Russia in late February, Moscow maintained its operation was in part to “de-Nazify” the country.

In his own statement, Russian President Vladimir Putin returned to the topic, congratulating former Soviet republics on the 77th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s defeat, adding that “success will be ours, as it was in 1945.”

Ukrainian officials are concerned that Russia may intensify its attacks ahead of Monday’s Victory Day celebrations.

Mr. Zelensky made an appeal to European nations, particularly the United Kingdom, France, and the Netherlands, by comparing Nazi bombs of their towns and cities to Russian raids on Ukrainian communities.

Meanwhile, local authorities estimate that more than 60 people were killed when a Russian bomb exploded near a school in eastern Ukraine on Saturday.

The governor of Ukraine’s Luhansk region, Serhiy Haidai, said around 90 local residents had been sheltering in the school in the village of Bilohorivka, near the frontline in the Donbas region.

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