The photo shows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other members of the Canadian Parliament giving a standing ovation for Yaroslav Hunka, a Ukrainian World War II veteran who later immigrated to Canada.
Let me put this in hockey parlance so the Canadians can understand it. This is what’s known as an “own goal.”
It’s hard to figure out how this happened, because Hunka’s introduction included the fact that he fought against Russia in WWII. Did no one think “Why was he fighting Russia? Russia was on our side.”
It turns out that he was fighting Russia because he was in the Waffen-SS, i.e., he is (or was, at least) a Nazi.
House Speaker Anthony Rota, who invited and introduced Hunka, has since resigned, and Trudeau has issued an on-brand non-apology apology.
I haven’t heard that Zelenskyy said anything, but if he did, it was probably along the lines of “Sorry for making you all give a standing ovation to a Ukrainian Nazi but in Ukraine it’s actually a pretty common event.”