15 Interpol countries join hunt for WWII Nazi SS veteran – Moscow

Yaroslav Hunka, who was honored by Canada’s parliament, is wanted in Russia for hundreds of murders

Some 15 Interpol member states have joined Russia’s efforts to find and extradite Yaroslav Hunka, the 99-year-old Waffen-SS veteran honored by Canada’s parliament last year, the Russian Interior Ministry announced on Monday.

Hunka made headlines when he appeared in the parliament of Canada as a guest during a visit by Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky last year. Hunka, whose Waffen-SS unit carried out atrocities against Jews and Poles on the Eastern Front during World War II, received a standing ovation, for which Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was later forced to apologize.

After trying unsuccessfully to extradite Hunka since late 2023, the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office announced last week that the Ukrainian-Canadian Nazi had finally been added to Interpol’s database, and that Moscow would seek his extradition if he left Canada.

As of Monday, 15 Interpol member states have agreed to arrest Hunka if he enters their territory, the Russian Interior Ministry said in a statement.

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“All war criminals who committed bloody atrocities against civilians will receive the punishment they deserve,” the ministry said. “After all, there is no statute of limitations for such crimes.” 

Hunka was a member of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, also known as the Galicia Division. Formed by the Nazi regime in 1943, the Galicia Division was made up primarily of Ukrainian recruits from the Galicia region, in what is now western Ukraine and eastern Poland. 

Russia has accused Hunka of involvement in the murder of at least 500 Soviet citizens.

Before his standing ovation last year, Hunka was introduced to Canadian lawmakers by House Speaker Anthony Rota as “a Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero… who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians.”

The Russian Interior Ministry did not list all of the countries that have agreed to pursue Hunka. However, Poland has pushed for his extradition since last year, while the head of Israel’s Anti-Fascist Movement said last week that his organization has called on any “country that harbors this criminal” to turn him over.