Canada has started a new round of sanctions Russia’s Media Machine Designed to Puncture propaganda Campaign about the war in Ukraine.
It has also imposed sanctions on its chief Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundayev. Russian Orthodox Churchwho have given favorable publicity about the struggle, saying it has “spiritual significance”.
Gundyaev—known as Patriarch Kirill—is a powerful figure in Russia and its expatriate community and is widely admired by President Vladimir Putin.
The patriarch has preached that it is “God’s truth” that the peoples of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia share a heritage and should be united.
Canada has also targeted Russian news agencies, TV stations and journalists. Petr Akopov, who has written with approval about Putin’s justification for the invasion of Ukraine, and Tigran Keosayan, a pro-Kremlin TV presenter, are among those on the latest list.
In addition Ottawa launched a web page to correct misinformation about the invasion of Ukraine and to “counter it with facts”.
Global Affairs Canada said in a statement that the site will continue to “shed light on how the Russian regime is using lies to justify its illegal, unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine.”
It started when Foreign Minister Melanie Jolie told a G20 meeting that the world “will not accept Russia’s false narrative.”
In a speech at the foreign ministers’ summit in Bali, Indonesia, which is also being attended by Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, Jolie said she was “shocked” to hear that she was “shocking” her sovereign neighbor to attack, assassinate her. Use “pure propaganda” to legitimize doing. raping women and men, and oppressing his people.”
“We will not allow Russia to blame for this food crisis,” he said. “Canada categorically rejects Russia’s claim that sanctions are to blame. It is not. Basically, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused a rift in global food supply chains.”
While in Indonesia, Jolie held talks with her G7 counterparts about the war in Ukraine, taking the lead in calling out Russian propaganda.
He also had a one-on-one meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday on the sidelines of the G20. The impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine and the global food crisis were among the topics of discussion.
The face-to-face meeting will be seen by some as a melting away of poor diplomatic ties between the two countries following the release of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor from detention in China last year.
Jolie also spoke to Wang in Germany in April, after the two ministers agreed to keep communication channels open.
Also 29 on Canada’s latest sanctions list is Vladimir Sungorkin, editor-in-chief of Komsomolskaya Pravda, which Putin has described as his favorite newspaper.
Russian broadcaster RT was banned from Canadian airwaves earlier this year after ministers accused it of spreading Kremlin-inspired propaganda about the invasion of Ukraine.
But the latest round of sanctions directly affects RT as well as Russian broadcasters Sputnik, Channel One Russia and the All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK), whose chief executive Oleg Dobrodiev has also been approved.
Long-established Russian news agency TASS is also on this latest list, along with Gazprom Media, which owns a string of TV and radio stations.
The list of new sanctions includes Russian author and journalist Yevgeny Prilepin, and TV host and documentary producer Arkady Mamontov, as well as Irina Volk, a well-known spokesperson for the Russian ministry.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, Canada has imposed sanctions on more than 1,150 people and organizations in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.
It has imposed coordinated sanctions with EU allies as well as the United States and the United Kingdom to prevent Russians from taking advantage of the loophole.
Global Affairs Canada said the latest wave of sanctions against Russia targeted “state-sponsored propaganda and propaganda agents”.
In March, Jolie was joined by several others in exiting a United Nations meeting in Geneva, when Lavrov, whom Canada had approved a few days earlier, began speaking.
As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced last month at the G7 summit in Elmau, Germany, Canada has also banned imports of some gold from Russia.
This is to prevent the Russians from converting cash into gold in order to get around the previous sanctions.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on July 8, 2022.
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