(Moscow) Vladimir Putin on Thursday described as an “idiot” the former Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada, Anthony Rota, who had a 98-year-old Ukrainian who fought in the SS applauded in the precincts of Parliament during WWII.
This former Nazi fighter, Yaroslav Hunka, was applauded by Canadian parliamentarians, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, of Jewish faith, who were unaware of his past.
Faced with the scandal, Mr. Rota resigned from his post and Mr. Trudeau apologized.
Mr. Putin told an international forum on Thursday that Mr. Rota should have been aware of Yaroslav Hunka’s past when he presented him as a Ukrainian who fought against the Russians during the Second World War.
PHOTO PATRICK DOYLE, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Yaroslav Hunka (right)
“If the Speaker of the Canadian Parliament says that this Canadian-Ukrainian Nazi fought against the Russians, he cannot fail to realize that he fought on the side of Hitler, and not on the side of his own homeland, Canada,” Mr. Putin declared at the international forum in Valdai, Russia.
“If he doesn’t know that Hitler and his criminals fought Russia in the war, he’s an idiot,” he said.
“And if he knows that this man fought alongside Hitler and he calls him a hero of Canada, he is a scoundrel,” he added.
Russia justified its assault on Ukraine in particular by the desire to “denazify” its neighbor.
“It is absolutely disgusting that everyone applauded this Nazi, especially the president of Ukraine, who has Jewish blood in his veins,” Mr. Putin continued.
“The president of Ukraine stood up and applauded a Nazi who murdered Jews. Isn’t this a sign of the Nazification of Ukraine? “, he added.
Ukrainian officials have not commented on the incident.