Granddaughter of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev says she is embarrassed by Putin invasion of Ukraine

• Nikita Khrushchev’s granddaughter slammed Russia’s invasion.
• She told the Independent she felt “horrible” and “embarrassed” by it.
• Khrushchev, who was Soviet Premier from 1958 to 1964, had a close relationship with Ukraine.

The granddaughter of former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev told the Independent she was embarrassed by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and that her grandfather would have found it “despicable.”

“He’d think it was outrageous and despicable and impossible,” Nina Khrushcheva told the Independent.

She also said she felt “horrible” and “embarrassed” by the attack, the Independent reported.

“I can’t believe that although [Putin] is claiming he’s trying to prevent the war, he’s actually waging a war on a nation he says is the same as Russia — a brotherly nation of Ukrainians,” she said.

Khrushchev, who led the Soviet Union from 1958 to 1964, maintained had a close relationship with Ukraine.

His hometown, Kalinovka, was located seven miles from the Russian border with Ukraine, and he spent much of his life working in the Donbas region in the eastern part of the country.

After World War II, he was appointed Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine and played a pivotal role in rebuilding Kyiv, which had been heavily bombed by the Germans, according to History.com

“Khrushchev restored Kyiv after World War II, so he was very loving towards that city,” Khrushcheva told the Independent.

“He did the best to restore it and they could use it again, and now it’s being bombed by another leader of Russia.” 

Khrushcheva was Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter by birth and granddaughter by adoption. She was born and raised in Moscow and currently works as a professor of international affairs at The New School in New York.

Tuesday marks day six of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

It has prompted protests across the world, including in Russia. Western nations have since levied heavy sanctions and other restrictive financial measures against Russia, a move that Putin claimed was unlawful.