OTTAWA, September 26. /TASS/. The honoring of the Ukrainian Nazi, who served in the ‘Galicia’ SS Division in the Canadian parliament will forever become history of the Canadian democracy, the Russian Embassy in Ottawa said in its statement.
"Citizens of this country must ask themselves, whom do their leaders praise and what junta do they support in Ukraine," the embassy underscored.
The embassy added that this case also has become a "slap in the face of true heroes of Canada, who fought to liberate Europe form the Nazis, together with their Russian and Soviet brothers-in-arms."
"Russia condemns any form of glorification of Nazism," the embassy said.
The scandal over the appearance of a Nazi in the parliament rocked the Canadian public. The opposition demands explanations how such person could have been invited to the parliament at all, as well public apologies from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Parliament Speaker Anthony Rota took responsibility for the incident. He issued an apology, claiming that neither his colleagues nor the Ukrainian delegation knew anything about the guest’s history.
Previously, Associated Press published photos showing the parliament greeting a 98-year-old Ukrainian nationalist, who fought in the 1st Galician SS Division during World War II, during Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s speech on September 22.
One photo is labeled: "Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recognize Yaroslav Hunka, who was in attendance and fought with the First Ukrainian Division in World War II before later immigrating to Canada."
The Galicia SS Division was formed in 1943 from residents of Western Ukraine. In July 1944, it was almost completely destroyed in the fight near Brody, reformed and used in Austria, Slovakia and Yugoslavia. In April 1945, it was removed from the SS force, renamed to the 1st Ukrainian division and included in the Ukrainian National Army. In May, the division surrendered to UK and US forces.