A senior Canadian MP apologizes to Jewish communities worldwide for an error made during the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which led to lawmakers honoring someone accused of being a Nazi in WWII.

The apology was issued after Canadian Jewish organizations demanded an explanation Sunday after it emerged that members of Parliament from all parties gave a 98 year-old veteran a standing-ovation on Friday, shortly after Zelenskyy spoke in the House of Commons.

Yaroslav Hunka saluted from the public gallery after he was introduced by House Speaker Anthony Rota. Rota described Hunka as an Ukrainian-Canadian war hero in his district.

Rota announced Friday that a Ukrainian-Canadian war veteran who served in the Second World War fought against the Russians for Ukrainian independence and still supports the troops to this day, despite his age. Zelenskyy waved and applauded him. “He is a Ukrainian and Canadian hero. We thank him for his service.” “Thank you.”

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The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, as well as B’nai Brith Canada, condemned the honoring of his service as “beyond absurd” and “disturbing,” because he served with the First Ukrainian Division – also known as 14th Waffen Grenadier Division – which was under Nazi command.

The Forward, a Jewish news site, reported that Hunka had written blog posts about his time with the unit for a Ukrainian language website called “Combatant News” run by a veterans’ association.

Rota made a statement in the late afternoon of Sunday, saying that he had recently “become aware of more information” which caused him to regret his decision to recognize Hunka. He claimed full responsibility for his seismic gaffe.

He said: “I want to be clear that nobody, not even my fellow MPs or the Ukraine delegation was aware of my intentions or my remarks prior to my delivery,” he explained. This initiative was my own. The individual in question is from my riding, and he or she had been brought to my notice.

Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Conservative opposition, called it “an appalling mistake of judgement” by Justin Trudeau. His office would have approved Hunka’s invitation and honor. Trudeau was asked to apologize and stop “passing on blame as he does every time.”

The prime minister’s statement said that it had not been notified in advance about the invitation or recognition from the Speaker’s Office, which is independent of the Prime Minister.

Russian state-controlled websites RT (Russian state media) and Sputnik (Russian state controlled media) quickly covered the story.

The Russian Embassy in Canada said on social media it was “an insult to the memory of Canada’s sons, daughters and veterans who fought Nazism during WWII.”

When reporters asked Zelenskyy at a Friday press conference about the waning support for Ukraine, he said that he looked to Canada as a source of help for a united front. Ottawa, a country with “powerful relationships” with many countries around the world, has been a great ally for him.

The shocking news came the day after the Prime Minister made a public statement to mark the Jewish holy day, Yom Kippur.