The announcement was made by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau upon his arrival on the Indonesian island of Bali, where the G20 summit officially kicks off on Tuesday.

The sanctions announced by Trudeau affect 23 officials of the judiciary and the apparatus of the Russian security forces, from the police to judges, prosecutors and prison officers, who are allegedly implicated in the “flagrant and systematic violation of human rights against opposition leaders in Russia”.

Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said the sanctioned officials were involved in the persecution of Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Canada has imposed sanctions on more than 1,400 Russian individuals and entities.

Trudeau also announced an additional C$500 million in military aid to Ukraine, for the purchase of military surveillance and communications equipment, as well as the purchase of fuel and medical supplies. .

This amount doubles the aid granted to Ukraine by Canada since the beginning of the Russian invasion on February 24, which thus totals nearly one billion Canadian dollars (approximately 729 million euros).

The Canadian Prime Minister said that “this additional military aid will support the Ukrainians, who bravely continue to fight the illegal invasion, and the new sanctions will put more pressure on those who support these acts of war”.

Shortly after Trudeau’s announcement, Moscow announced that it had added 100 Canadians to the list of people banned from entering the country, in response to Canada’s sanctions against Russia.

A Russian Foreign Ministry statement said author Margaret Atwood, actor Jim Carrey and Amy Knight, a KGB historian, are on the banned list.

The ministry said these Canadian citizens were banned because of their involvement in “aggressive anti-Russian training (in Canada)”.