Canada takes aim at Russian military with new sanctions over Ukraine war

By Barry Ellsworth

TRENTON, Canada (AA) - Canada hit 33 organizations with sanctions Monday that are responsible for the suffering of Ukrainians by supporting the Russian military operations in the besieged country.

The new sanctions freeze assets on entities like the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and Shipyard Vympel JSC.

"These entities have provided indirect or direct support to the Russian military and are therefore complicit in the pain and suffering stemming from Vladimir Putin's senseless war in Ukraine," a statement from Canada's foreign ministry said.

Since Moscow's move into Ukraine Feb. 24 of this year, Canada has imposed sanctions on 1,100 Russian organizations and individuals.

Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said Monday that Canada's support for Ukraine remains unwavering in the face of Russian aggression.

"Canada has always and will always stand by Ukraine," Joly said in a statement. "Today's measures are the latest example of our unwavering support for Ukraine and its people.

"We will continue to support the brave men and women fighting for their freedom, and we demand that those responsible for atrocities be held accountable."

Canada's recent support of Ukraine goes back further to Putin's annexation of Crimea in 2014.

At a G-20 meeting in November 2015, then Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper told Putin to his face that, "I guess I'll shake your hand but I have only one thing to say to you: You need to get out of Ukraine."

Canada is also one of the countries that spearheaded the move to refer the current war to the International Criminal Court to hold Russia for serious international crimes in Ukraine and crimes against humanity.

After Ukraine and Russia, Canada has the third largest Ukrainian diaspora in the world with about 1.4 million of partial or full Ukrainian origin living in the country. On Dec. 2, 1991, it became the first Western country to recognize Ukraine's independence from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or the USSR.