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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has apologized on behalf of Canada’s Parliament after a Ukrainian who fought for Nazi unity was unintentionally applauded in Parliament.

“It is an error that has deeply embarrassed Parliament and Canada,” Mr. Trudeau said on Wednesday.

President Anthony Rota, who took responsibility for inviting 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka, resigned on Tuesday.

The incident sparked global condemnation.

Mr. Trudeau also apologized directly to Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, who was visiting Canada and presenting in Parliament, saying: “Canada is deeply sorry.”

The Ukrainian leader was among those photographed applauding Mr. Hunka, an image exploited by Russian propaganda.

“All of us who were in this House on Friday deeply regret having stood up and applauded even though we were not aware of the context,” Mr. Trudeau said. “It was a horrible violation of the memory of the millions of people who died in the Holocaust.”

He said what happened was “deeply, deeply painful” for the Jewish people and for the millions who were targeted by the Nazi genocide.

Mr. Hunka, who fought in a Nazi unit during World War II, received a standing ovation and was hailed as a Ukrainian and Canadian “hero.”

He served in the 14th Waffen-SS Grenadier Division, a volunteer unit composed primarily of ethnic Ukrainians under Nazi command.

Members of the division are accused of killing Polish and Jewish civilians, although the unit has not been convicted of any war crimes in court.

Mr Rota said he was unaware of Mr Hunka’s Nazi links and had made a mistake in inviting him to parliament.

“The President was solely responsible for inviting and recognizing this man, and he has fully accepted that responsibility and resigned,” Mr. Trudeau said.

But neither the prime minister’s comments nor the president’s resignation have slowed criticism from Canadian opposition leader Pierre Poilievre of the Conservative Party.

“There is always someone else to blame when it comes to Justin Trudeau. But here’s the reality: Responsibility and power go hand in hand,” he said.

“If he wants to get power, he must take responsibility and come to the House of Commons today to apologize.”

Mr. Poilievre called the incident “the greatest diplomatic embarrassment” in Canadian history.

Canadian Jewish organizations welcomed Mr. Rota’s decision to resign, but the Simon Wiesenthal Friends Center for Holocaust Studies said “questions remain about how this debacle happened.”