Nazi applauded by Canadian parliament charged by Russia

A 98-year-old Ukrainian war veteran Yaroslav Hunka has been charged with genocide by Russia.

Along with other members of his SS division, Hunka killed "at least 500 citizens of the USSR" in the village of Huta Pieniacka, now part of Ukraine, between February 23 and 28, 1944, Russia claims.

In a statement, Russia's Investigative Committee said it charged Hunka in absentia with the "genocide of civilians on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR during the Great Patriotic War".

"Among those killed were Jews and Poles. People were shot, burned in residential houses and also in the church," it added.

The predominantly Ukrainian Galicia Division has been found guilty of war crimes by commissions in Germany and Poland, and historians say its members took part in several massacres.

Russia's statement added that it was considering issuing an international arrest warrant for Hunka, who has sought legal assistance in Canadaas well as Polandand Belarus.

Charges follow Canadian parliament gaffe

The charges come a month after Hunka was presented to the Canadian parliament as a World War II hero, prompting a standing ovation.

The incident, which led to speaker Anthony Rota resigning after widespread criticism, occured when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in the House of Commons as a guest of honor on September 22.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered an "unreserved" apology for the "terrible mistake" but Russia seized on the incident, with Russian President Vladimir Putin using it to fuel the narrative that Ukraine's pro-Western government is neo-Nazi and as justification for Russia's war in Ukraine.

Putin called the standing ovations given to Hunka "disgusting" and claimed that they showed Moscow was right to "de-nazify" Ukraine.

mds/jcg (AFP, Reuters)