Russia Imposes Sanctions on Canadian Leaders

On Tuesday, Russia's Foreign Ministry announced sanctions will be imposed on Canadian leaders in light of the "outrageous hostility of the current Canadian regime." The number of Canadian individuals to be sanctioned exceeded 300 people with links to the government, which has adopted a similar move against Russia.

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The Russian FM disclosed a list of the individuals to be sanctioned, including the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, alongside the ministers of foreign affairs and national defense. Most of the House of Commons of the Canadian Parliament's MP's were targeted.

The measures comprise the banning of the "aggressive pro-Bandera elements" in Canada are referring to the Ukrainian WW2-era Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera. Those enlisted in sanctions have been forbidden from entering the Russian Federation. Last year, Jewish groups accused the Canadian troops of allegedly training neo-Nazi battalions in Ukraine. In 2018, the media revealed that Canadian officials had met with the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion members.

The Russian FM explained that "every Russophobic attack, be it attacks on Russian diplomatic missions, airspace closures, or Ottawa's actual severing of bilateral economic ties to the detriment of Canadian interests, will inevitably receive a decisive and not necessarily symmetrical rebuff," considering Moscow's recent step.

The Kremlin's sanction on Canada, came after Ottawa's announcement that new sanctions will be imposed on 15 Russian officials, information disclosed in light of a further virtual address to the Canadian Parliament by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is planning a similar speech to the U.S. Congress on Wednesday.

Since the beginning of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, several countries have imposed sanctions on Russia, including Western countries such as Canada. Ottawa closed its airspace and ports to Russian aircraft and vessels and banned oil imports from Russia, though Canada has not actually imported any Russian oil since 2019.