Canada imposes sanctions on 15 more Russian officials

"To make sure Putin and his enablers are held accountable, Canada has imposed severe sanctions on 15 more Russian officials - including government and military elites who are complicit in this illegal war," Trudeau said in a tweet.

Ottawa: Canada has imposed sanctions against 15 more Russian government officials over the country’s war with Ukraine, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau informed in a tweet on Tuesday (local time).

“To make sure Putin and his enablers are held accountable, Canada has imposed severe sanctions on 15 more Russian officials – including government and military elites who are complicit in this illegal war,” Trudeau said in a tweet.

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The Canadian Prime Minister added that the sanctions being imposed are in line with Canada’s European Union partners, and they bring the total number of individuals and entities sanctioned by Canada since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to nearly 500.

The latest round of sanctions targets deputy commander in chief of the navy Vladimir Kasatonov, Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov, Federal Guard Service Director Dmitry Kochnev, and Ministry of Defense spokesman Igor Konashenkov among others, reported Sputnik News Agency.

“These new measures impose restrictions on 15 Russian officials who enabled and supported President [Vladimir] Putin’s choice to invade a peaceful and sovereign country,” Global Affairs Canada said in a statement.

In response to the sanctions, Russia is imposing counter-sanctions against Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and over 300 lawmakers, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Moscow also imposed sanctions against Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly and Defense Minister Anita Anand, Sputnik reported.

Earlier, Russia had imposed sanctions against US President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other US officials.

The slew of sanctions against Russia come after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 on the pretext of “demilitarising” and “denazifying” Ukraine. The conflict in Ukraine has caused a severe humanitarian crisis, with thousands of refugees fleeing to neighbouring countries to the west of Ukraine for shelter.