Russia and Belarus will work on the issue of extradition of Ukrainian Nazi Gunko

Russian and Belarusian law enforcement agencies have been instructed to study the issue of preparing an appeal for the extradition of the Ukrainian Nazi Yaroslav Gunko (Hunka) from Canada. About it stated Head of the Russian Ministry of Defense Sergei Shoigu during the closed part of the joint board of the Russian and Belarusian defense ministries.

An appeal to the Canadian authorities, as well as to Interpol, will be prepared based on the fact that the Canadian government and international organizations have officially recognized that former soldier of the SS Galicia division Gunko is a war criminal.

“The facts of the direct participation of the Nazi Gunko in atrocities against the civilian Soviet population on the territory of the Lvov region, then the territory of the USSR, including the genocide of Poles and Jews, give us every reason to demand his extradition for prosecution,” Shoigu emphasized.

The head of the military department noted that crimes against humanity have no statute of limitations. In addition, he recalled that Canada has ratified the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

On September 22, Speaker of the House of Commons Anthony Rota invited Hunka to a meeting of the Canadian Parliament with the participation of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. The SS veteran was presented as a war hero and honored with applause. Rota later apologized “to every Holocaust survivor and World War II veteran” and then resigned. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, speaking in the House of Commons, called the incident a disgrace “for all of Canada” and also apologized to Zelensky and the Ukrainian delegation “for the position in which they were placed.”

Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov notedthat the Canadian authorities are obliged to extradite and bring to justice Hunka. Polish Minister of Education and Science Przemyslaw Czarnek also spoke about this, and suggested considering the possibility of extraditing Hunka. September 27, Russian Ambassador to Canada Oleg Stepanov statedthat Russia, after honoring Hunka in the Canadian parliament, may initiate a criminal case and send Ottawa a request for his extradition.

Russian President Vladimir Putin noted, that if Rota knew that Hunka fought on the side of Hitler, and at the same time called him a hero of Ukraine and a hero of Canada, “then he is a scoundrel.” The Russian President honoring Khunka himself named “savagery”.