(OTTAWA) Canada has sanctioned a Russian woman who the foreign minister’s office says is the architect of a scheme to abduct Ukrainian children and facilitate their adoption into Russian homes.
Posted at 11:00 p.m.
The federal government has imposed sanctions on Maria Lvova-Belova, Russian commissioner for the rights of the child, accused by Ukraine of having organized the displacement of children from the regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.
This decision aims to “isolate her and hold her responsible for her crimes,” said Adrien Blanchard, spokesperson for the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly.
“She will become a global pariah. »
Yulia Kovaliv, Ukraine’s ambassador to Canada, said in an interview earlier this week that her country is working to recover children abducted by Russia.
Child abductions are among 28,000 alleged war crimes being investigated by Ukraine, with the help of Canadian investigators.
Thousands of children were transported to Russia from the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, including from orphanages.
Moscow claimed that most of them were Russian-speaking.
Adrien Blanchard says targeting children — in many cases orphans — is diabolical and cannot go unpunished. It indicates that M.me Lvova-Belova is the architect of the system that has inflicted suffering on thousands of Ukrainian children and families.
“Canada will continue to lead international efforts to hold Russia accountable for these atrocities,” he said. We were one of the first countries to support Ukraine in its case before the International Court of Justice against Russia.
The United Kingdom also sanctioned Mme Lvova-Belova, signifying its opposition to the child withdrawal program that Russia has implemented since the invasion of Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Ukraine celebrated its Independence Day with a series of events across Canada, marking 31 years of independence from Russian control.
At an auction in Toronto to raise funds for ambulances and evacuation vehicles, organized by Mme Kovaliv, a piece of a Russian missile that fell on a Ukrainian training base near the Polish border fetched $5,000.
Just weeks before the missile fell in March, killing 43 soldiers, Canadians were training Ukrainian troops there.
Prior to taking up his post in Ottawa in April, Mr.me Kovaliv seized the piece of shrapnel and brought it back to Canada.
The winner of the missile fragment is the CEO of the Roshel company, Roman Shimonov, chosen by the Canadian government in April to supply eight armored personnel carriers to Ukraine.
Mr. Shimonov, who was among the Canadians recently sanctioned by Russia, bet $3,000 and added another $2,000.
“It has a very big symbolic significance,” he said. We purchased this item […] to allow them to buy the ambulances. »
He said in an interview that he would display the piece of Russian missile in a display case at his company’s headquarters in Mississauga, Ontario.