Canada Speaker to Resign After Nazi Soldier Praised In Parliament
The speaker of Canada’s House of Commons, Anthony Rota, said on Tuesday that he would resign as speaker after inviting Ukrainian-Canadian Yaroslav Hunka, who fought for the Nazis in World War II, to attend a speech in the Canadian Parliament delivered by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine. President Zelenskyy was visiting Canada on Friday for the first time since the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year. For the visit, Rota invited 98-year-old Hunka, a constituent of Rota’s legislative district, to attend the joint session of Parliament. During the session, he praised Hunka as a “Ukrainian hero” and a “Canadian hero.” Lawmakers from all parties gave Hunka two standing ovations, and President Zelenskyy gave him a raised fist. However, Jewish groups were quick to point out that Hunka served in a Nazi unit known as the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, which was a volunteer unit that fought alongside Germany during World War II and declared allegiance to Adolf Hitler. All main opposition parties have called for Rota to step down over the incident, and Karina Gould, the government’s House leader, said that lawmakers had lost confidence in Rota. The incident played into Russian propaganda that its invasion of Ukraine was to “de-Nazify” the country, which Kyiv has dismissed as baseless.
Thousands Flee as Azerbaijan Invades Disputed Province; Provincial Leader Arrested
On Wednesday, Azerbaijan arrested Ruben Vardanyan, a billionaire banker and philanthropist who was the leader of Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway region of Azerbaijan. Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but is mostly populated by ethnic Armenians. The province broke away from Azerbaijan in 1991 and has remained autonomous ever since. Last week, Azerbaijan began a military offensive to regain control of the province and has since claimed total control over it. Vardanyan’s arrest was announced by Azerbaijan’s border guard service, which said Vardanyan was captured as he tried to cross into Armenia. The takeover has resulted in a mass exodus of Armenians from the region, with over 50,000 reported to have left, representing more than a third of the population. Those fleeing fear reprisals despite Azerbaijan’s promise to respect the rights of the residents of the province.
Gunmen Take Over Kosovo Monastery; Four Killed
On Sunday, around thirty ethnically Serb gunmen stormed an Orthodox monastery in Banjska, a village in Kosovo near its border with Serbia. Kosovo, founded in 2008, is recognized as a sovereign nation by the United States and a wide range of other countries, but is still claimed by Serbia. The incident triggered a gunfight in which one police officer and three attackers were killed. Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti accused Serbia of sending the attackers into Kosovo. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic retorted by saying that the attackers were Kosovo Serbs who had had enough of “Kurti’s terror.” According to Kosovo, the gunmen escaped to Serbia, and the Kosovo government called on Serbia to hand over the gunmen to them. The incident has inflamed tensions between the two nations. United States Ambassador to Kosovo Jeffrey M. Hovenier called the attack “coordinated and sophisticated.” The U.S. condemned the attack and urged the governments of Kosovo and Serbia to end their decades of antagonism.
Russian Video Sheds Doubt on Ukraine’s Killing of Black Sea Commander
On Tuesday, Ukrainian officials expressed some uncertainty over their Monday announcement that they had killed Admiral Viktor Sokolov, the commander of Russia’s Black Sea fleet. Kyiv claimed that the admiral was among 34 officers killed in a strike deep behind enemy lines. However, Russia released a video Tuesday that purported to show the admiral at a meeting in the Russian Defence Ministry. On Wednesday, the Russian government released more videos of the admiral. It is not clear when any of the videos were filmed. If Sokolov’s death were confirmed, he would be the highest-ranking official killed by Ukraine since the war began.
