At a State Duma charity event for children, a deputy promised “Vova in Kyiv” New Year’s missiles

At the State Duma’s “Wishing Tree” charity event, Oleg Nilov, a Duma deputy from the party A Just Russia — For Truth, “joked around.” Participants are supposed to tear a card containing a child’s New Year’s wish from the tree, and then do their best to fulfill it.

In a video circulating in the media, Nilov says “A little boy, Vova from Kyiv, dreams of missiles. Vova, you’ll get missiles, just wait. Just joking, of course.”

Vova is a common nickname for Volodymyr — the given name of, notably, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.

After the remark, Artem Metelev, the head of the Duma Committee on Youth Policy, hid his face in his hands.

In 2022, the cards for the “Wishing Tree” charity event were written by children with disabilities, children in orphanages, as well as children of the mobilized and residents of the occupied Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions.