Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau landed themselves in hot water this weekend as they introduced and gave a standing ovation to a Nazi soldier who fought in the Waffen SS in World War II.

98-year-old Yaroslav Hunk was introduced by House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota as a “veteran from the Second World War who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians and continues to support the troops today even at his age of 98.”

He went on to call Hunka a ‘hero’ who should be thanked for his service, at which point Trudeau, Zelensky, and numerous other members of the Canadian parliament gave him a standing ovation.

“His name is Yaroslav Hunka… he is a Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero, and we thank him for all his service,” Rota continued before a second round of applause.

It later came out that Hunka fought for Nazi Germany in the 14th division of the Waffen SS.

Members of the public were quick to express their disgust, with professor Ivan Katchanovski of the University of Ottowa calling his introduction to parliament ‘truly unbelievable’ and an ‘epic scandal.’

Professor Katchanovski has claimed that members of the Ukrainian division of the Waffen SS have been implicated in “numerous mass killings”, which included “mass executions and other similar massacres of Ukrainians and Jews in Pidhaitsi and Ustyluh and Poles in Edwardopole, Korchunky, Ameryka, Smoligow, Laskow, Chlaniow, and Wladyslawin, and participation in the suppression of the Warsaw uprising in 1944.”

Speaker Rota apologized after Hunka’s Nazi affiliations were pointed out, saying he ‘regretted’ introducing him.

“In my remarks following the address of the President of Ukraine, I recognized an individual in the gallery. I have subsequently become aware of more information which causes me to regret my decision to do so,” Rota said in a statement.

 

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