The Kremlin said it is absurd a Ukrainian man who served in a Nazi unit during the Second World War had been presented to the House of Commons as a hero. .“Such sloppiness of memory is outrageous,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Reuters on Monday. .“Many Western countries, including Canada, have raised a young generation that does not know who fought whom or what happened during the Second World War.”.Ukrainian Nazi veteran Yaroslav Hunka received two standing ovations from the House of Commons during a visit by Ukraininan President Volodymyr Zelensky. .Peskov said this incident showed a careless disregard for history and that the memory of the Nazis must be preserved. .“And they know nothing about the threat of fascism,” said Peskov. .Speaker of the House of Commons Anthony Rota introduced Hunka as “a Ukrainian-Canadian veteran from the Second World War who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians.” .When Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union during the Second World War, some Ukrainian nationalists joined Nazi units because they saw Germany as liberators from its oppression. .This incident played into the narrative promoted by Russian President Vladimir Putin that he sent his army into Ukraine in 2022 to demilitarize and remove Nazis. .Peskov said Russia was waging an irreconcilable fight against fascism that was “trying to find its feet in the centre of Europe, in Ukraine.”.Rota said on Sunday he made a mistake by honouring Hunka in the gallery. .READ MORE: UPDATED: House of Commons speaker apologizes for bringing Nazi to Zelensky speech.“I have subsequently become aware of more information which causes me to regret my decision to do so,” said Rota. .“I wish to make clear that no one, including fellow parliamentarians and the Ukraine delegation, was aware of my intention or my remarks before I delivered them.”
