00:00On Monday, Russian-Canadian German Guttorov's armored vehicle company
00:03was subject to sanctions announced by Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand.
00:07According to a statement from Anand,
00:09Strait Group was sanctioned for providing vehicles to the Russian National Guard,
00:13which is involved in the conflict in Ukraine.
00:16The minister claimed that despite President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine,
00:21the company continues to feed Russia's war machine.
00:24By interfering with Strait Group's ability to provide military technology and equipment to Russia,
00:30the sanctions announced today will lessen Russia's military capabilities in its war against Ukraine.
00:36While applauding the sanctions, the Ukrainian-Canadian Congress claimed that Guttorov,
00:41the CEO and founder of the Strait Group, had not been targeted by the federal government.
00:45It stated,
00:46This highlights the need for the government to devote more resources to the investigation
00:51and enforcement of export and sanctions law, and more generally,
00:54to the necessity of a full trade embargo on Russia
00:57and the designation of Russia as a terrorist state.
01:01Requests for comment from the company were not answered.
01:04In response to the announcement, Russia's ambassador in Ottawa said on Telegram
01:08that the sanctions had no practical effect,
01:11since the Putin government pays no attention to them.
01:14After leaving the collapsing Soviet Union to immigrate to Canada,
01:18Guttorov founded Strait Group in Ontario.
01:20Later on, he constructed a significant production facility in the United Arab Emirates.
01:26Since then, his armored vehicles have been found in several conflict zones,
01:31and the United States has fined Strait Group,
01:33and the UN has repeatedly accused it of violating sanctions.
01:37The European Union recently imposed similar sanctions on Guttorov and Strait Group
01:42for allegedly supplying Russia, and Canada followed suit.
01:45Despite extensive international sanctions,
01:48the company has been accused of continuing to collaborate with Putin's military and businesses
01:53since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
01:56Russia's National Guard has been spotted with new Strait Spartans,
01:59and Ukraine has reportedly captured a Strait Group armored vehicle on the battlefield.
02:04Strait established a manufacturing plant in Uganda,
02:07a country with a Kremlin-aligned government,
02:09several months after Russia began its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
02:13Strait Group of Ukraine
02:13Strait Group of Ukraine
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