Director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Israel has condemned Canadian troops for training neo-Nazi fighters in Ukraine, saying it was Ottawa’s responsibility to make sure such things did not happen. The Canadian military, however, denied any obligation to vet the training recipients.
“The Canadian government didn’t do its due diligence,” Efraim Zuroff told the Ottawa Citizen on Wednesday. “It’s the responsibility of the Canadian defence ministry to know exactly who they are training.”
“There is no question that there are neo-Nazis in different forms in Ukraine, whether they are in the Azov regiment or other organizations,” he added.
His comments came after a Radio Canada report on Monday that back in November 2020, Canadian troops were photographed training members of the “Azov” regiment as well as a at least one soldier weathering the insignia of the SS division “Galizien,” a Ukrainian unit that had fought for the Nazis in WWII.