Auschwitz museum says Russia's war in Ukraine is an 'act of barbarity that will be judged by history'

• The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum slammed Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
• "This act of barbarity will be judged by history," the museum said.

The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum on Thursday ripped into Russia for starting a war against Ukraine, warning the country that history would judge it sharply for its actions.

"This morning, Russia attacked Ukraine. This act of barbarity will be judged by history, and its perpetrators, it is to be hoped, also by the International Court of Justice," the Holocaust remembrance museum, located at the site of the infamous death camp established in Nazi-occupied Poland, said in a blistering statement.

"As we stand at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial, it is impossible to remain silent while, once again, innocent people are being killed purely because of insane pseudo-imperial megalomania," the statement continued.

The museum, which educates people about genocide, expressed solidarity with Ukraine and warned that "any symptom of indifference is a sign of complicity."

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced early Thursday morning that Russia would launch a military operation against Ukraine. A large assault on the Eastern European country soon followed, with reports of bombardments in cities across the country as well as Russian tanks and troops pouring across the border from several directions. Ukraine says it's fighting to repel the Russian assault, and the country's defense minister called on anyone willing to take up arms to enlist in the country's defense forces. There have also been reports of casualties.

In the process of announcing Russia's military assault, Putin misleadingly compared Ukraine to Nazi Germany. Putin said Russia was attempting to prevent a genocide against Russian speakers and pursuing the "demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine." But Ukraine is not committing genocide, nor is it led by Nazis. Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is a Jewish man who speaks Russian.

Zelensky in a tweet Thursday excoriated Russia for attacking his country, while turning Putin's "denazification" rationale for the invasion on its head.

"Russia treacherously attacked our state in the morning, as Nazi Germany did in" World War II, Zelensky said. "As of today, our countries are on different sides of world history," Zelensky added, saying Russia "has embarked on a path of evil" while Ukraine was "defending itself & won't give up its freedom no matter what Moscow thinks."