Canada adds Putin's daughters to sanctions list

Canada on Tuesday added Russian President Vladimir Putin's two adult daughters to its sanctions list, following similar moves by allies, in response to Moscow's war in Ukraine.

Those added to the list -- which includes the wife and daughter of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and 10 other "close associates of the Russian regime" -- face asset seizures and travel bans.

Britain, the European Union and the United States have already sanctioned Putin's two daughters: Maria Vorontsova and Katerina Tikhonova, born in 1985 and 1986 respectively.

Their mother is the Russian leader's ex-wife Lyudmila, whose divorce from Putin was announced in 2013.

The Kremlin has kept details of Putin's daughters' lives a closely guarded secret.

According to the US Treasury Department, Vorontsova conducts genetic research that has been supported by billions of dollars in Russian state funding, and Tikhonova is a tech executive in Russia's defense sector.

"We will continue to impose severe costs on the Russian regime in coordination with our allies and will relentlessly pursue accountability for their actions," Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said in a statement.

"They will answer for their crimes."

Canada has sanctioned more than 750 individuals and entities from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

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