The Canadian-Ukrainian war veteran received a standing ovation in parliament during Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit. Russia immediately grabbed the propaganda weapon.
In Canada, there has been an uproar over the president of Ukraine to Volodymyr Zelensky about an embarrassing mistake that happened during the visit.
Speaker of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Canada Anthony Rota had invited an elderly Canadian-Ukrainian war veteran to witness Zelensky’s parliamentary visit last Friday.
Rota introduced what was in the public gallery Yaroslav Hunkan describing this as a World War II hero.
– He fought for Ukraine’s independence against the Russians and still supports the troops even at the age of 98, the speaker beamed.
The parliamentarians then gave a standing ovation to Hunka.
In addition to Zelensky, the Prime Minister of Canada was present in the parliament Justin Trudeau. Zelenskyi and Trudeau also joined in the applause given to the war veteran.
Among other things Politico news site has published on X (formerly Twitter) a picture of Trudeau and Zelensky showing their approval.
Later, organizations representing Jews revealed that Hunka served in the Waffen SS volunteer division of Nazi Germany in World War II. Canadian CTV channel reports that the 14th Grenadier Division of the Waffen SS is also known as the Galician SS Division.
The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center and B’nai Brith Canada, which represent Jews, say tributes to such a person exceed all limits of outrageousness.
The speaker regrets the invitation to visit
Now Speaker Rota has apologized for what happened.
– I have later become aware of things that make me regret my decision [esitellä Hunka]Rota says.
Rota emphasizes that the decision to invite Hunka, who lives in his own constituency, to the parliament was his alone, and neither the other members of the parliament nor the delegation of Ukrainian guests knew about it in advance.
– I especially want to express my deepest regrets to the Jewish communities in Canada and around the world. I take full responsibility for my actions.
What makes the incident particularly embarrassing is that the images of Zelensky applauding a veteran of the Nazi forces give Russia a new propaganda weapon.
Throughout the war in Ukraine, Russia has repeated a false story about how the Nazis operate in Ukraine and how Zelensky also has Nazi connections.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has already said that what happened proves that the threat of fascism is not understood in many Western countries, reported the Canadian Public Service CBC channel.