OREANDA-NEWS A request for extradition to Russia from Canada to bring to criminal responsibility for the genocide of Soviet citizens of former SS Yaroslav Gunko (Hunka), who was applauded by the Canadian parliament, has been submitted to the competent authorities of the country, Russian Ambassador to Ottawa Oleg Stepanov told RIA Novosti in an interview.

"The request for the extradition of the Nazi henchman has been submitted to the Canadian competent authorities," he told the agency.

According to the head of the Russian diplomatic mission, the request is a whole package of documents.

In December 2023, RIA Novosti's interlocutor at the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation confirmed that Moscow had demanded the extradition of Gunko (Hunka) from Canada. Earlier, the IC of the Russian Federation charged him in absentia with genocide of civilians of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War.

The State Archive of the Russian Federation and the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation have received documentary confirmation of the locations and conduct of hostilities by the SS Galicia division, in which Hunka served.

As follows from the decree on the involvement of Hunki as an accused, he "committed a crime against the peace and security of mankind," which is qualified by law as a particularly grave act.

In particular, according to the document, Hunka, a native of the village of Uman, then the Second Polish Republic, was part of a group of 12 thousand people. It was formed in 1943 in the Lviv region by the Nazi invaders for the "mass murder of Soviet civilians." He participated in large–scale executions of civilians in the region, including the murder of at least 500 Soviet citizens in one of the regional villages.