As Russia increases pressure on Ukraine, its army and its inhabitants on the ground, Canada has announced new sanctions against senior Russian officials. These come more than two weeks after the death of Alexei Navalny on February 16. Ottawa believes that these Russian officials “participated in the violation of the Russian opponent’s human rights.”
Information to remember
⇒ 12 dead after Russian drone attack in Odessa
⇒ Canada announces new sanctions against Moscow
⇒ Seven Russian military planes were shot down this week, according to Zelenksy
Death toll from Russian strike against Odessa rises to 12
“The bodies of two children aged 10 and 8 – a brother and a sister – were released by rescuers in Odessa,” the Ukrainian general prosecutor’s office said on Telegram this Sunday March 3 in the early evening. The discovery of these two new victims in Odessa brings the death toll to twelve, following a Russian drone attack on a residential building in the port city, Saturday March 2 in the morning.
The strike notably killed five children, including two babies under the age of one, according to statements by the Ukrainian head of state and the region’s governor. “Marc, who was not even three years old yet, Elizaveta, eight months, and Timothée, four months,” President Volodymyr Zelensky listed on Telegram. “Ukrainian children are Russia’s military targets,” he denounced.
The governor of the Odessa region, Oleh Kiper, sharing the same assessment, announced shortly after 7 p.m. that “the search operation at the scene of the tragedy is [désormais] finished.”
Canada announces new sanctions against Russia
After the death of Alexeï Navalny in a penal colony in the Arctic on February 16, Canada announced this Sunday new sanctions against Russian officials. Thus, six senior officials and high-ranking staff members of the criminal prosecution, judicial and correctional services are targeted by this new series of Canadian sanctions.
In a statement, Ottawa indicated that these officials “participated in the violation of the Russian opponent’s human rights, in his cruel punishment and, ultimately, in his death.” “Together with its partners, Canada will maintain pressure on the Russian government to conduct a full and transparent investigation into the death of Alexeï Navalny,” declared Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly.
Zelensky says his army shot down ‘seven Russian military planes this week’
In his daily address, broadcast this Sunday evening on social networks, Volodymyr Zelensky boasted of having “managed to shoot down seven Russian military planes this week alone”. And the Ukrainian president added: “Since the beginning of February, Russia has lost 15 military aircraft.”
The Ukrainian president also reiterated his pressing request to Western allies to accelerate the supply of arms and ammunition to kyiv. “The main thing is political will […] If this does not happen, it will become one of the most shameful pages in history.”
Nearly 1,000 Russian daily deaths and injuries in February, according to the British Ministry of Defense
With 983 Russian deaths and injuries per day on average, the month of February was the costliest period in human losses for Russia since the start of the war, estimates the British Ministry of Defense in its daily update.
An increase in this average figure which explains, according to the ministry, “Russia’s growing commitment to a war of mass and attrition”. More than 355,000 Russians have been killed and injured since 2022, it is also indicated.