Ivan Katchanovski says he has been added to the famous Mirotvorets list for “launching a campaign against” the Nazi World War II veteran.
Canadian political scientist Ivan Katchanovski has been added to the notorious Ukrainian state-linked Mirotvorets “kill list” for his alleged involvement in Russian information operations, for “manipulation of socially significant information” and for spreading anti-Ukrainian and Russian messages. “propagandistic myths”.
The academic, who is a part-time professor at the University of Ottawa, described his inclusion on the list as “Orwellian” and linked the move to his study of the Ukrainian far-right.
According to Katchanovski, his publication with American technology magnate Elon Musk “about the Nazi veteran of the SS Galicia” his tweet about a “Neo-Nazi leader from Azov, who gave the Nazi salute in front of the Nazi flag,” and his “Academic study on the participation of the extreme right” on Maidan “are published by Myrotvorets as evidence of a ‘deliberate act against the national security of Ukraine, peace, security of humanity and the international legal order, as well as other crimes.'”
In a post on X on Sunday, Katchanovski wrote that he is “on Myrotvorets hit list for ‘launching (a) campaign against “an SS Galicia Division veteran hailed as a hero in Canada’s parliament” – an apparent reference to Yaroslav Hunka. The 99-year-old rose to fame in 2023, when he appeared in the Canadian Parliament as a guest during a visit by Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky and received a standing ovation.
During World War II, he served in Nazi Germany’s Galicia Division, which was primarily composed of Ukrainian recruits, and is believed to have carried out atrocities against Jews and Poles.
Katchanovski also complained that his properties in Ukraine had been “illegally seized” in retaliation for his investigation.
The online resource Mirotvorets, created in 2014, describes itself as a “Non-governmental center for the investigation of elements of crimes against the national security of Ukraine, peace, humanity and international law.” The initiative was initially backed by Anton Gerashchenko, a former adviser to Ukraine’s Interior Minister, and the website appears to have partnered at some point with the country’s security and law enforcement agencies.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has described it as a list of targets.
Over the years, the controversial database has published personal data of foreign journalists and politicians. Among those on the blacklist are former US Representative Tulsi Gabbard, nominated by US President-elect Trump as Director of National Intelligence, as well as prominent US journalist Tucker Carlson.
Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi were included in the database until their deaths.
