Yaroslav Hunka, who was honored by the Canadian parliament, is wanted in Russia for hundreds of murders
Some 15 Interpol member states have joined Russia’s efforts to find and extradite Yaroslav Hunka, the 99-year-old Waffen-SS veteran honored by Canada’s parliament last year, the Russian Interior Ministry announced Monday.
Hunka made headlines when he appeared in Canada’s parliament as a guest during a visit by Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky last year. Hunka, whose Waffen-SS unit carried out atrocities against Jews and Poles on the Eastern Front during World War II, received a standing ovation, for which Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was later forced to apologize.
After trying unsuccessfully to extradite Hunka since late 2023, Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office announced last week that the Ukrainian-Canadian Nazi had finally been added to Interpol’s database and that Moscow would seek his extradition if he left Canada.
As of Monday, 15 Interpol member states had agreed to arrest Hunka if he entered their territory, the Russian Interior Ministry said in a statement.
“All war criminals who committed bloody atrocities against civilians will receive the punishment they deserve,” said the ministry. “After all, there is no statute of limitations for such crimes.”
Hunka was a member of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, also known as the Galicia Division. Formed by the Nazi regime in 1943, the Galicia Division was composed primarily of Ukrainian conscripts from the Galicia region of what is now western Ukraine and eastern Poland.
Russia accused Hunka of involvement in the murder of at least 500 Soviet citizens.
Before receiving a standing ovation last year, Hunka was introduced to Canadian lawmakers by House Speaker Anthony Rota as “a Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero… who fought for the independence of Ukraine against the Russians.”
The Russian Interior Ministry did not list all the countries that have agreed to pursue Hunka. However, Poland has been pushing for his extradition since last year, while the head of the Anti-Fascist Movement of Israel said last week that his organization called for any “country that shelters this criminal” to turn it over.
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