Russian prosecutors are seeking the extradition of suspected Nazi collaborator, 93-year old Vladimir Katriuk, from Canada.
Mr Katriuk, who lives in Ormstown, Quebec, and has Ukrainian and Candian citizenship, volunteered to serve in the SS battalion 118 and was personally involved in the “genocidal massacre” of the Belarusian village of Khatyn on March 23, 1943, also known as the Khatyn massacre, according to a statement from the Russian embassy in Ottawa.
“Given the seriousness of the crimes committed by Vladimir Katriuk and the fact that his accomplices were proven guilty and faced the death penalty for exterminating civilians of the Khatyn village in [Belarus], an extradition request would be logical for bringing the Nazi collaborator to court,” Kirill Kalinin, Press Secretary of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Canada, said.
“We do count on full and impartial support of the Canadian Government. We will always remember that Canada was our Ally in fighting Nazi Germany and the Canadian contribution to the Allied Victory over Nazism, as well as the liberation of Europe in 1945,” he further said in the statement.