Canada to sanction Belarus firms, more officials over Russia’s war in Ukraine

(Reuters) – Canada said on Tuesday it will slap more sanctions on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s administration for supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The foreign ministry in Ottawa said it would sanction 22 more Belarusian officials as well as 16 Belarusian companies involved in military manufacturing, technology, engineering, banking and railway transportation.

It said the officials included some who were “complicit in the stationing and transport of Russian military personnel and equipment involved in the invasion of Ukraine.”

Canada is among several countries that have imposed steep financial penalties on Russia for its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent war, for which it has used Belarus as a staging ground.

The country has imposed sanctions on more than 1,500 individuals and groups, including from Belarus, according to the foreign ministry.

While Kyiv and the West describe Russia’s actions as an unprovoked war of aggression, Moscow calls it a “special military operation” to rid Ukraine of nationalists and protect Russian-speaking communities.

(Reporting by Washington bureau; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)