Zelensky accuses Putin of involvement in the Hamas attack on Israel

On October 10, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a very bold statement about Russia and the war between Israel and Gaza that broke out over the weekend.

In an interview with France 2 television channel, Zelensky said, "We are certain that Russia is supporting, in one way or another, Hamas operations."

Zelensky added, "Russia is really trying to carry out destabilising actions all over the world." The Ukrainian leader's comment came after Russian President Vladimir Putin finally broke his silence regarding Hamas' violent attack on Israel.

In his first public statement on the matter, as reported by various news outlets such as The New York Times and Politico, Putin blamed the United States for the attack in Israel.

The Russian President said that America's Middle East policies had failed and said that creating a Palestinian state is "necessary."

Putin went on to say that the U.S. was not "taking into account the fundamental interests of the Palestinian people," such as "the need to implement the decision of the UN Security Council on the creation of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state."

Putin has been one of the biggest villains in the media ever since Russia chose to invade Ukraine, and undoubtedly, he is thrilled with these recent developments in the Middle East.

After all the chaos in the Middle East takes the eyes of the world off of the horrendous war he started. However, it might be a bit of a stretch to claim that Russia is behind Hamas' attack on Israel.

As for Zelensky, it is understandable that he is nervous, as the attacks in Israel are drawing away the attention of some of Ukraine's biggest supporters in their fight against Russia.

As Brendan Cole wrote in an article on Zelensky and Putin's statements regarding the attacks in Israel published in Politico, "Zelenskyy has been playing up that Hamas' backer Iran and Russia are close allies, and is casting the fight against Russia and the struggle against Islamist militants as one and the same."

In fact, in his statement to the press regarding the actions of Hamas in Israel, Zelensky said, "Israeli journalists who have been here in Ukraine, in Bucha, are now saying that they saw the same evil where Russia came. The same evil. And the only difference is that there is a terrorist organization that attacked Israel, and here is a terrorist state that attacked Ukraine."

And Zelensky is not trying to hide his fears regarding the implications this new war will have on global support for Ukraine.

In his statements to the press regarding the situation in Israel on October 10, Zelensky said, "I don't wish to make any comparisons. There is a terrible war going on in our country. In Israel, many people have lost their loved ones. These tragedies are different, but both are immense."

Zelensky then warned the West, saying, "...international attention risks turning away from Ukraine, and "that will have consequences. Ukraine's destiny depends on the unity of the rest of the world. World unity depends very much on the unity of the United States," said the Ukrainian leader.

Israel and Russia do not by any means have a good relationship. Things quickly went south between the two countries after Russia invaded Ukraine.

The ties really grew cold as Russia began conducting more business with Iran in an attempt to secure more drones and ammunition to use against Ukraine, and Israel started shipping humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

It is a well-known fact that Iran is one of Hamas' biggest supporters, and it is probably far-fetched to believe that Putin had something to do with the attacks on Israel. However, Putin's public statements regarding the Hamas attacks are clearly carefully crafted not to upset Iran, as the Russian President did not offer condolences to Israel nor condemn Hamas in his statement.