OTTAWA, October 18. /TASS/. Canadian authorities are not going to hand over Ukrainian Nazi criminal Yaroslav Hunka to Russia, which, according to Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, will insist on his extradition, head of the Russian Canada community group Leon Mitsner told a TASS correspondent.
"Shoigu’s statement is very strong and indicates that Russia has proof of Hunka’s involvement in war crimes but Canada won’t hand him over. Here, they will do everything to drag this out and let him die in peace," he said. The community activist explained that in the event of Hunka’s extradition "a precedent will be created which will have major consequences for many Nazis who moved to Canada." "Additionally, in this case, Poland may also demand handing over Hunka and other criminals," Mitsner explained.
Earlier on Wednesday, Shoigu instructed the relevant agencies to coordinate with Belarusian law enforcement bodies a formal request to Interpol and Canada for the extradition of war criminal Yaroslav Hunka "for a public trial." The defense chief’s instructions specify that, "the facts of the direct participation of the Nazi Hunka in atrocities against the peaceful Soviet population on the territory of the Lvov Region, at that time the territory of the USSR, including the genocide of Poles and Jews, provide all necessary grounds for demanding his extradition and rendition for prosecution." It is noted that such crimes against humanity have no statute of limitations.
On September 22, during Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky's appearance before the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa, the audience gave two standing ovations to invited guest Yaroslav Hunka, a 98-year-old Ukrainian emigre who in 1943 had volunteered to serve in the Nazi 14th SS-Volunteer Division "Galicia." On September 26, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly called for the resignation of House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota, who had introduced Hunka to the audience, praising him as a war veteran who fought "against the Russians" during World War II. Joly called the incident "absolutely unacceptable" and "a disgrace to the House [of Commons] and to Canadians." Rota subsequently tendered his resignation. On September 27, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau formally apologized for the incident.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the public praise of the Nazi "epitomizes the ruling regime of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to a T," declaring that Russia does not intend to "tolerate the way Canadian liberals flirt with Nazism.".