(Moscow) Former Ukrainian Nazi fighter Yaroslav Hunka, who was honored in the Canadian parliament last month, will be prosecuted in Russia for “genocide” of civilians in Ukraine during World War II, the Russian Investigative Committee said Friday.
Posted at 8:29 am.
Mr Hunka, 98, was charged in absentia, the committee said, adding that the possibility of issuing an international arrest warrant and arrest in absentia was being “considered”.
He was accused of fighting with the SS and was applauded in September by Canadian parliamentarians, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a Jewish man who was unaware of his past.
PHOTO PATRICK DOYLE, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVE
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky greets Yaroslav Hunka during his visit to the House of Commons on September 22.
The unit he allegedly belonged to is accused of killing “at least 500 citizens of the USSR,” including Jews and Poles, in a village in the Lviv region of western Ukraine.
The investigative committee said it had asked Canada, Poland and Belarus for help in its investigation.
The Polish Minister of Education had already announced that, with a view to his possible extradition, he was calling for an investigation to verify that this Ukrainian veteran had not committed any crimes in Poland.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in early October that it was “absolutely disgusting” that the former soldier had received applause, particularly from Mr. Zelensky.
“The President of Ukraine stood up and applauded a Nazi who was murdering Jews. Isn’t this a sign of the Nazification of Ukraine? “, he added.
Russia accuses Ukrainian leaders of being “neo-Nazis” and justifies the offensive by citing the need to “denazify” its neighbor.