Canada sanctions Putin's daughters, sending Ukraine 'heavy artillery'

Canada is sanctioning Russian President Vladimir Putin’s two adult daughters, as part of a fresh round of punitive measures aimed at more than two dozen “close associates” of Putin, including Russian oligarchs and their family members.

The pair—Mariya Vorontsova (Putina) and Katerina Tikhonova— are now subject to fiscal and other penalties, as part of a growing list under the “Special Economic Measures Act” that their father is already on.

Putin rarely speaks about his daughters, their identities have never been confirmed by the Kremlin, and neither woman has confirmed publicly that the Russian leader is her father.

The United States moved to sanction the daughters a few weeks ago. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is following suit, after a host of world leaders met virtually on Tuesday morning to discuss the war in Ukraine.

“We continue to monitor the situation and co-ordinate actions to respond to Putin's terrible, illegal invasion,” Trudeau told reporters at an event in New Brunswick on Tuesday.

• Who are Putin's daughters? Latest round of sanctions raises questions

Mariya is a doctor who, according to the U.S. government, "leads state-funded programs that have received billions of dollars from the Kremlin toward genetics research and are personally overseen by Putin.” Katerina has been described as a “tech executive whose work supports the GoR [Russian government] and defence industry.”

Canada’s new imposition of sanctions targets 14 individuals. Among the other prominent figures targeted are Russian billioniare and banking magnates Petr Aven and Mikhail Fridman, entrepreneur and investor Oleg Boyko, and energy, real estate and retail billionare Mikhail Gutseriev.

The federal government has also sanctioned Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov’s wife Maria Lavrova and daughter Yekaterina Vinokurova.

• Oligarchs, politicos, and Putin: Meet the Russians Canada has sanctioned

“These actions demonstrate that Canada will not relent in holding Russian President Vladimir Putin and his associates accountable for their complicity in the Russian regime’s invasion of Ukraine,” read a statement from Global Affairs Canada.

At the outset of Russia’s invasion, Canada’s imposition of sanctions were framed as efforts to cut off Putin and his allies from their financial assets, and broadly impose international pressure to end the attacks.

Many weeks later, the attacks continue and the federal government says there is ample evidence that Russian forces are “committing serious atrocities and human rights violations in Ukraine, including war crimes and likely crimes against humanity.”

Pledging to continue with further measures to respond to Russia’s violence and hold Putin accountable, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said in a statement that Canada will “continue to impose severe costs” on Russia, who she says “will answer for their crimes.”

PROMISE OF ARTILLERY

Trudeau said Tuesday that Canada will also be sending “heavy artillery” to Ukraine in the near future. The prime minister said it was a direct request from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, because that is the phase that the war is in right now.

“Ukrainians have fought like heroes over the past number of months,” Trudeau said. “We're very responsive to what it is that they need most specifically.”

The government has broadly promised to continue sending lethal and non-lethal aid, in addition to sending money and offering humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.

His office was not able to provide additional details, nor was Defence Minister Anita Anand's office.

With files from Senior Political Correspondent for CTV News Channel Mike Le Couteur, and CTVNews.ca’s Nicole Bogart