A former Ukrainian Nazi soldier who was honored in the Canadian Parliament last month is on trial in Russia for the genocide of civilians in Ukraine during the Second World War, the Russian investigative committee announced this Friday (20).

The incident occurred when Ukrainian President Volodmir Zelensky visited the country’s Parliament.

In a statement, Russia’s investigative committee said it accused 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka of committing “genocide against civilians on the territory of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic during the Great Patriotic War.”

Between February 23 and 28, 1944, Hunka and other members of the SS division – the Nazi military unit whose crimes against humanity during the Holocaust were documented – killed “at least 500 citizens of the Soviet Union” in the town of Huta Pieniacka, he added. .

Russia said it was considering the possibility of issuing an international arrest warrant for Hunka and said it had requested help in the investigation from Canada, Poland and Belarus.

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Zelensky was in the Canadian Parliament when the speaker, Anthony Rota, introduced Hunka as a Second World War hero, drawing thunderous applause from lawmakers. Rota resigned after the scandal.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in early October that it was “absolutely disgusting” that the veteran was being applauded, especially by Zelensky.

Russia has tried for years to portray the Ukrainian government led by Zelensky as neo-Nazi and spread this message in state-controlled media to justify its invasion of Ukraine.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed a “sincere apology” in September and said the incident “was a huge mistake.”