Ottawa | On Monday, the Canadian government announced new sanctions against Russian officials and four companies in protest of Russia’s “illegal annexation and occupation” of the Crimean peninsula.
The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that these new measures, which were announced in coordination with Australia, are in line with recent measures taken by the European Union and the United Kingdom.
In particular, they imposed an asset freeze and a transaction ban in Canada against two Russian officials, Alexander Janov and Leonid Regenkin.
Mr. Janov heads a company working on rail services between Russia and the Crimean peninsula, while Mr. Rejinkin supervised the construction of a highway bridge over the Kerch Strait.
“Over the past seven years, Russia has systematically ignored calls by the international community to put an end to its violations of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine as well as international law,” said Mark Garneau, head of Canadian diplomacy.
The conflict between Russian-backed militants and Ukrainian forces has claimed more than 13,000 lives since 2014, when Russia annexed the Crimea peninsula and pro-Russian forces rebelled in eastern Ukraine against Kiev.
Since 2014, Canada has sanctioned more than 440 officials and entities linked to the crisis, many of them in cooperation with its allies.
Last week, Ottawa had already announced sanctions against nine Russian officials, in protest at the treatment of Vladimir Putin’s main rival Alexei Navalny.
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