Canada’s Foreign Ministry on Friday expanded its ‘blacklist’ to include 38 Russian individuals and 16 Russian companies accused of disinformation and disseminating Kremlin-friendly propaganda in the context of the war in Ukraine.
With this new update, Ottawa has now singled out a total of 1,160 individuals and 286 legal entities for promoting the war in Eastern Europe or disseminating the Kremlin’s official version of what Moscow defines as a «special military operation».
Most of those sanctioned in this new round are journalists, while among the companies sanctioned are the news agencies Rossiya Segodnya and RIA Novosti, as well as the portal SouthFront, which specializes in military and security information.
Ottawa has also sanctioned United World International and Foundation for the Fight Against Repression, «disinformation actors» linked to the founder of Wagner Group and ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Yevgeni Prigozhin.
«Canada is taking active steps to combat Russian disinformation as part of its efforts to support Ukraine. Cultural icons and media organizations cannot be allowed to freely take advantage of their status to promote falsehoods and unjustifiable support for Putin’s war,» the Canadian Foreign Ministry remarked.
For her part, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly stressed that «Russian disinformation has resulted in the suffering of millions» and accused Putin of trying to «manipulate public opinion».
RUSSIA COMPARES SANCTIONS TO THE THIRD REICH Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has compared the sanctions imposed on Friday by Canada to the «attempts to silence the voice of reason» during the Third Reich, the government of Nazi Germany, through a message on Telegram.
«Canadian sanctions on Russian reporters and artists can be compared to the Third Reich’s attempt to destroy the ‘un-German spirit’ and silence the voice of reason by burning books and banning periodicals,» Zarakhova said in statements carried by Russia’s Tass news agency.
Also, after learning of the sanctions, the Russian ambassador in Ottawa, Oleg Stepanov, warned that Moscow will respond, as it has been doing since the outbreak of the war, «under the principle of reciprocity».
«The response will be, because we always act on the principle of reciprocity. We will respond to every hostile action of the current Canadian authorities,» Stepanov told Russia’s TASS news agency.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
