Moscow adds 56 more Canadians to sanctions list, ministry says

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during an interview with Rossiya Segodnya International Media Group Director General Dmitry Kiselev, in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, March 12, 2024. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russia has banned 56 Canadian citizens from the country, the Moscow Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

The ministry said those on the list were actively involved "in the campaign to praise Hitler's accomplices from the OUN-UPA and the Galicia Division ... and heads of companies who are involved in the supply of weapons to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as active participants in the Russophobic campaign fanned by the (Canadian) authorities."

The OUN-UPA was a Ukrainian nationalist force that fought against Soviet rule during the German invasion of the Soviet Union in World War Two, while the Galicia Division was a largely Ukrainian volunteer force recruited by the German Nazi party's Waffen SS corps to fight the Soviet Red Army.

According to the ministry, there are now almost 1,600 people on the list of Canadians who have been banned from entering Russia.

Writing by Maxim Rodionov; Editing by Kevin Liffey