Top Nazi Suspect Katriuk Dies In Canada

One of the top suspects accused of involvement in Nazi war crimes during World War II has died at the age of 93.

According to war reports, Ukrainian-born Vladimir Katriuk was a member of a Ukrainian battalion of the SS, the elite Nazi corps, between 1942 and 1944.

Katriuk, who eventually went to live in Canada and became a Canadian citizen, was named this year as the second most wanted surviving Nazi by the US-based Simon Wiesenthal Centre.

Katriuk's lawyer said he died earlier in the week, a report in Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail revealed.

"Mr. Katriuk has passed away, after years of unwarranted harassment, media not excepted," lawyer Orest Rudzik said.

"I'm glad he's at peace. He'd been ailing for a long time."

He had been living in the Canadian town of Ormstown near Montreal for years, where he worked as a bee-keeper.

The Federal Court of Canada ruled in 1999 that Katriuk had concealed his past collaboration with the Nazis in order to obtain Canadian citizenship, but the court did not find evidence that he had himself committed atrocities.

Katriuk had argued he was forced to enlist in a Ukrainian battalion responsible for crimes against Jews and other civilians from Belarus and Ukraine between 1942 and 1944.

But he said his role was limited to protecting villagers and livestock against attacks.

He claimed he had deserted his battalion when deployed to France in 1944, where he stayed until he emigrated to Canada in 1951.

The court found that, by using the name of his brother, Katriuk had falsified his immigration papers.

Despite that, in 2007, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper decided not to revoke his citizenship.

Russia earlier this month accused Katriuk of genocide in connection with the 1943 killing of civilians in Khatyn, now part of Belarus and called for him to be extradited.

But Mr Harper's government ignored the request, retaliating by saying it would never recognise Moscow's annexation of Crimea and its interference in Ukraine.