OTTAWA
Canada has announced economic and travel ban sanctions against Russian entities and Ukrainian rebels as a result of the ongoing crisis in eastern Ukraine.
The sanctions come after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, en route to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam, was shot down last week near Hrabove in Donetsk, Ukraine -- about 40 kilometers from the Ukrainian-Russian border, killing all 298 people - 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board.
" Earlier this week, we announced our intention to broaden the range of entities sanctioned in response to the Putin regime’s illegal occupation of Ukraine’s Crimean region, and its persistent, provocative military activity targeting parts of eastern Ukraine," Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a written statement on Thursday.
Many, including the United States, believe the plane was downed by a surface-to-air missile, launched from an area controlled by Russian-backed separatists inside of Ukraine. U.S. President Barack Obama has accused Moscow of providing arms to the rebels.
“As we have seen with the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 last week, the Putin regime’s failure to end its support to armed separatist groups constitutes a very real threat to international peace and security," said the Canadian Prime Minister
Canada has targeted Russian firms in the energy and the financial sectors, such as Gazprombank or Novatek and Vnesheconom bank.
At least 500 people have been killed since pro-Russian separatists in the eastern part of Ukraine declared their intention to break.
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