Moscow is contemplating launching a probe into potential conflict crimes by Yaroslav Hunka, celebrated in Ottawa as a Ukrainian “hero”
Moscow could request the extradition of Yaroslav Hunka, a 98-year-old Ukrainian-Canadian veteran of the Waffen SS, Russia’s envoy to Ottawa, Oleg Stepanov, urged on Wednesday.
“Russia is reviewing the Hunka story. Might open a prison case and subsequent extradition request,” the diplomat stated in a press release.
The remarks come amid the fallout of Hunka’s look at Canada’s Home of Commons, the place he was touted as a Ukrainian “hero” who purportedly “fought for Ukrainian independence in opposition to the Russians.”
The veteran – who fought for the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, also referred to as the first Galician Division, fashioned by Nazi Germany from largely western Ukrainians throughout WWII and recognized to have dedicated atrocities in opposition to Jews and Poles – obtained a standing ovation at parliament, with PM Justin Trudeau and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky in attendance.
The controversial honoring of the Nazi veteran triggered a serious political meltdown in Canada and sparked anger in a number of different nations. To this point, the scandal has led to the downfall of now-former Home Speaker Anthony Rota, who resigned on Tuesday whereas expressing “profound remorse” for his “error” to host Hunka on the legislature.
Canada’s PM apologized for the Hunka debacle on Wednesday, but shifted the blame onto parliament’s now-former Speaker for inviting the Nazi veteran. The entire scene was “deeply embarrassing for parliament and Canada,” Trudeau acknowledged, as he provided “parliament’s unreserved apologies for what occurred on Friday.”
“The speaker was solely chargeable for the invitation and recognition of this man, and has wholly accepted that accountability and stepped down,” Trudeau acknowledged.
Other than Russia, Poland, which has been among the many high backers of modern-day Ukraine in its combat in opposition to Moscow, has additionally urged a probe into potential conflict crimes dedicated by Hunka.
On Tuesday, Polish Minister of Training Przemyslaw Czarnek stated he had “taken steps in the direction of the attainable extradition … in view of the scandalous occasions within the Canadian Parliament.” The minister additionally known as upon Poland’s Institute of Nationwide Remembrance to “urgently look at the paperwork whether or not Yaroslav Hunka is needed for crimes in opposition to the Polish nation and Poles of Jewish origin.”
The SS as an entire was declared a prison group by the Worldwide Navy Tribunal in Nuremberg in 1946, whereas a number of senior members of the paramilitary group have been tried and executed for his or her atrocities.
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