Putin uses Tucker Carlson interview to take shots at Zelenskyy over Hunka affair

Subscribe here: https://bit.ly/eudebates Russian President Vladimir Putin used an interview with U.S. media personality Tucker Carlson to take a shot at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for joining in a standing ovation for a veteran of a Second World War Nazi unit during his visit to Canada.

Zelenskyy gave an address to Parliament during the September visit. Before that, he was introduced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and then-Speaker of the House Anthony Rota.

During his introduction, Rota recognized a man from his riding, Yaroslav Hunka, and praised the Ukrainian-Canadian for fighting the Russians during the Second World War. Zelenskyy, Trudeau and the rest of the House rose to applaud Hunka.

Yaroslav Hunka, right, waits for the arrival of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the House of Commons in Ottawa on Sept. 22, 2023. (Patrick Doyle/The Canadian Press)

Media reports later revealed that Hunka fought with the Waffen-SS Galicia Division, also known as the SS 14th Waffen Division and sometimes the First Ukrainian Division. The unit was made up of Ukrainian volunteers from Galicia and was under Nazi command.

"The president of Ukraine stood up with the entire Parliament of Canada and applauded this man. How can this be imagined?" Putin told Carlson through a translator. Carlson posted the interview on X, formerly Twitter.

While historians say men joined the unit for a variety of reasons — including a desire to fight for Ukrainian independence from the Soviet Union — the incident was a major diplomatic embarrassment for Canada.

Putin has repeatedly claimed he is waging war on Ukraine in order to "de-Nazify" the country and has jumped on the Hunka affair to justify his argument in the past.

Western allies, including Canada, have consistently pushed back against those claims, calling Russia's full-scale invasion a blatant violation of Ukraine's sovereignty.

During the interview, Putin suggested that the Hunka affair is "being silenced in Western countries," despite extensive media coverage of the incident last fall.

The Russian president has greatly limited his contact with international media since he launched the full-scale war in Ukraine in February 2022.

The signing of long-term contracts with defence companies by EU governments, the removal of all administrative obstacles to the interaction of defence production and the redirection of European arms exports from third countries to Ukraine can significantly increase the number of shells at the front and equalize the artillery balance with Russia.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said this during talks in Kyiv with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell.

The Ukrainian Prime Minister, Denys Shmyhal, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, stressed, on Wednesday 7 February during a visit to Kyiv by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, the importance of supplying their country with ammunition.

During the meeting with Borrell, the head of the Kyiv City State Administration emphasized that there is an urgent need for further assistance to Ukraine with air defense systems, weapons, and ammunition.

Ukraine's president replaced his top general Thursday in a shake-up aimed at reigniting momentum in the deadlocked war with Russia, which is grinding into its third year as the country grapples with shortages of ammunition and personnel and struggles to maintain support from the West.

After days of speculation that change was coming, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media that he was thankful for the service of the outgoing Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi — a military leader popular with troops and the general public. "The time for ... a renewal is now," Zelenskyy said on X.

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