Russia's foreign ministry has accused Israel of supporting neo-Nazis in Ukraine and further exacerbated a dispute that began with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's words that Adolf Hitler was of Jewish descent.

On Sunday, Lavrov made a statement about Hitler on Italian television when asked why Russia said it should "denazify" Ukraine if President Vladimir Zelensky himself was Jewish.

Yesterday, Israel reacted by condemning Lavrov and saying his words were an "unforgivable" lie that downplayed the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust. Leaders of several Western countries have since condemned the Russian foreign minister's comments, and Zelensky has accused Russia of forgetting the lessons of World War II.

A statement from the Russian ministry today said that Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid's comments were "anti-historical" and "largely explain why the current Israeli government supports the neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv".

Moscow reiterated Lavrov's thesis that Zelensky's Jewish origins did not rule out the possibility of Ukraine being ruled by neo-Nazis. "Anti-Semitism in everyday life and in politics has not stopped, on the contrary - it is nurtured (in Ukraine)," the statement said.

Israel initially avoided direct criticism of Moscow and did not impose official sanctions on Russian oligarchs so as not to worsen relations with Russia.

However, Russia-Israel relations have strained, with Lapid accusing the Russian Federation of committing war crimes in Ukraine last month.

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