Former Edmonton journalist admits to vandalizing monuments of Ukrainian Nazi collaborators

Duncan Kinney, a former journalist for the left-wing website Progress Report, pleaded guilty to criminal mischief on Monday for vandalizing monuments to Ukrainian Nazi collaborators in Edmonton, Alberta, in 2021. Kinney spray-painted 'Actual Nazi' on a bust of Roman Shukhevych and 'Nazi Monument' on a memorial to the SS Galizien. He is due to be sentenced on Jan. 25, 2027.

Duncan Kinney, a former journalist for the left-wing website Progress Report, pleaded guilty to criminal mischief on Monday, four years after he was arrested for vandalizing monuments to Ukrainian Nazi collaborators in Edmonton, Alberta. In 2021, Kinney broke the news story that someone had spray-painted 'Actual Nazi' on a bust of WWII military commander and Nazi collaborator Roman Shukhevych, and 'Nazi Monument' and '14th Waffen SS' on a memorial to the SS Galizien. Court documents show Kinney was caught on security camera spray-painting the Shukhevych monument shortly after midnight on Aug. 10, 2021, and again eight hours later photographing his handiwork. He then emailed the Ukrainian Youth Unity Complex, where the monument was located, asking for a statement. Kinney initially pleaded not guilty, suggesting he was targeted for criticizing the Edmonton Police Service. He is due to be sentenced Jan. 25, 2027, at which time the crown prosecutor is expected to drop the more serious charge of defacing a war memorial. The board of Progress Report issued a statement condemning Kinney's actions as a cardinal breach of journalistic ethics. The case exposed deep divisions in the Ukrainian diaspora about Ukraine's role in the Holocaust. The article notes that the monument to the SS Galizien is located at St. Michael's Cemetery, and among its members was Yaroslav Hunka, who received standing ovations in the House of Commons in 2023 before his Nazi past became known. The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center and other groups have called for the monuments' removal, but the diaspora community is resistant, with some dismissing the Nazi ties as 'Russian propaganda.'