OTTAWA, September 27. /TASS/. The Canadian authorities owe an apology to Russians and the Russian community in Canada for paying homage to Ukrainian Nazi henchman Yaroslav Hunka in the Canadian parliament, Russian Ambassador to Canada Oleg Stepanov said.

"I believe that in a multicultural society of Canada, the Parliament and the Government of this country owe a formal and unequivocal apology to all Russians and the Russian Canadian community," the diplomat said in a statement, released on Wednesday. "An intention to ignore and to exclude from the memory the genocide against Russians committed by the Waffen SS, including the ‘Galicia’ division, is unacceptable. Therefore, I am waiting for the reaction of the Canadian authorities."

Stepanov went on to say that members of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS ‘Galicia,’ to which Hunka was a member, have "committed multiple war crimes, including mass murder, against the Russian people, ethnic Russians." "This is a proven fact," he added.

Photos published by The Associated Press showed that, as Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky was speaking in the Canadian Parliament on September 22, the audience greeted Hunka, 98, who served in the 1st Ukrainian Division, also known as the SS Galician Division, during World War II. It was created in 1943 and made up of residents from western Ukraine. In July 1944 it was almost completely destroyed in the battle of Brody, then it was re-assembled and used in Slovakia, Yugoslavia and Austria. In May of 1945, its servicemen surrendered to British and US forces.

The Russian Foreign Ministry stressed that Moscow had no intention to "tolerate the Canadian liberals’ flirtation with Nazism," adding that the special ceremony honoring Hunka "characterizes the ruling regime of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the best possible way."

Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly demanded that Speaker of the House of Commons of the Canadian Parliament, Anthony Rota, resign over the scandal. She described the situation as "deeply unacceptable" and as an "embarrassment." Later, Rota announced his resignation from the post.