Hours before this announcement, the UK had also announced sanctions related to abuses by the Wagner Group in Africa.

“We will not stand idly by as President Putin and his aides seek to erase Ukraine’s culture and identity through violent and unwarranted military action and propaganda efforts,” Secretary of State Melanie Joly said in a statement.

Figures affected by the measures include “leading figures in the Wagner Group who have been active in both Ukraine and Africa,” including Ivan Maslov, the head of the Wagner Group, who is accused of contributing to the massacre of civilians in Moura, Mali, in March 2022.

Canada had already sanctioned the Wagner Group and its leader Evguéni Prigojine.

The Russian paramilitary group is increasingly active in Africa, particularly in Mali, where the military junta employs its mercenaries and has sided with Russia diplomatically since its relations with France deteriorated.

In early May, the UN accused the Malian army and “foreign” fighters of having executed at least 500 people in an anti-jihadist operation in Moura in March 2022.

This volley of fresh sanctions from Ottawa targets 20 individuals and 21 Russian companies linked to “private military companies and so-called volunteer organizations supporting Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine,” as well as Russia’s nuclear sector.

They face a transaction ban, a freeze on all of their assets in Canada, and a ban on entering Canada.

In addition, the Canadian government is imposing sanctions on a dozen figures in Russia’s cultural and educational sectors, including singers, actors and filmmakers, and on four institutions, including the Ministry of Culture.

Since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, Canada has imposed sanctions on more than 2,600 individuals and entities.