Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has rejected a piece of "Russian disinformation" that claimed New Zealand pledged allegiance to the Nazis.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev made the claim while discussing how the country is ramping up the production of new-generation weapons to protect itself from enemies in Europe, the United States, and Australia.
"We are increasing production of the most powerful means of destruction. Including those based on new principles," he said on messaging app Telegram.
Medvedev, who serves as the deputy head of Russia's Security Council, didn't give details of the weapons.
"Our enemy dug in not only in the Kyiv province of our native Malorossiya," he went on to say, using the term to describe territories of modern-day Ukraine that were part of the Russian Empire under the tsars.
"It is in Europe, North America, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and a whole number of other places that pledged allegiance to the Nazi."
New Zealand has never pledged allegiance to the Nazis.
On Monday, at her weekly post-Cabinet press conference, Ardern rejected Medvedev's statement
"This is something that was raised some months ago," she said. "I, of course, reject any and all Russian disinformation, and that's the category under [which] I would put this."
Earlier on Monday, Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced new sanctions targeting 23 individuals and networks behind disinformation campaigns that support Russia's war effort.
"The individuals sanctioned today have direct influence over public perceptions about Russia's illegal and unprovoked war. They contribute to the fog of disinformation that serves [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's aggression against Ukraine's territorial sovereignty," Mahuta said.
"This announcement reflects our complete rejection of Putin's narrative and his attempts to mislead the international community.
"The latest round of sanctions expand on the disinformation actors already sanctioned in May. They include individuals from Russian media outlets and news agencies."
Those sanctioned include the Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media, the CEO of Channel-1 Russia, and key personnel from Russian media outlets including InfoRos, SouthFront, and the Strategic Culture Foundation, Mahuta said.
Recently, Russia has been expanding and modernising its nuclear arsenal, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Friday. It also comes at a time when Putin has suggested he could use nuclear weapons, following setbacks in Ukraine.
"And as the Kremlin continues its cruel and unprovoked war of choice against Ukraine, the whole world has seen Putin engage in deeply irresponsible nuclear sabre-rattling," Austin said.
Russia has the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world, Reuters reported, with close to 6000 warheads.
On Friday, Putin warned that any country that dared to attack Russia with nuclear weapons would be wiped from the face of the Earth.
He said Russia didn't have a mandate to launch a preventative first nuclear strike, but that its advanced hypersonic weapons would mean Russia could respond forcefully if it came under attack.
