Canada to impose additional sanctions on entities in Russia, Belarus amid Bucha violence

Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly Monday announced that the country will impose tougher sanctions against Russia and its ally Belarus in response to the war atrocities committed by Kremlin's troops in Bucha, near the outskirts of Kyiv. During her Helsinki visit, Joly discussed how Canada and the allied nations can deter and build resilience against hybrid threats, especially in regard to the Russian military aggression in Ukraine. Canada will target “close associates” of the Russian and Belarusian administrations with new sanctions to counter Russian aggression in Ukraine.

Penalties will be imposed on nine Russians and nine Belarusians for “having facilitated and enabled violations of Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence,” the Canadian government said in a statement on Monday.

“These individuals are close associates of the Russian and Belarusian regimes,” the news release further added.“Adding to several actions taken by Canada to support Ukraine and its people, these measures demonstrate that Canada will not relent in holding (Russian President) Vladimir Putin and his enablers accountable for their egregious and illegal actions.”

9 individuals and 25 entities of Belarus already designated 

Canada had also amended its sanctions measures imposed on Belarus and designated an additional 19 individuals and 25 entities in response to Belarus’ support for the Russian invasion last month. 

The sanctioned 25 designated entities by Canada consisted of Belarusian entities involved in key Belarusian economic sectors including finance, potash, energy, tobacco, and defence. At the time, Canberra had announced that owing to ongoing developments in the region, the government may “announce and implement further measures” in alignment with its allies in the coming days. “We will publish additional articles as measures are announced in an official capacity,” Canada’s foreign ministry stated. Canada now plans to impose fresh monetary sanctions under the Special Economic Measures (Belarus) Regulations as Russian troops retreated from the Kyiv region leaving devastating scenes of war crimes and mass civilians killings. Canada not only condemned the Russian regime of Vladimir Putin but also lambasted the Lukashenko regime’s involvement in Russia’s illegal and unjustifiable invasion of Ukraine.