Russia bans, Inna Platonova, president of the Calgary Ukrainian Canadian Congress

The president of the Calgary branch of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress is on Russia’s latest sanction list.

Inna Platonova is one of the 62 Canadians now banned from entering the Russian Federation.

Platonova has organized many Ukraine solidarity rallies and fundraisers in Calgary since the Russian invasion began.

Among others on the sanction list includes a slew of Canadian public figures including former General Rick Hillier and Juno-award-winning signer-songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk, and Brent Hawkes, 2SLGBTQIA+ activist and the head of Canadian Forces Intelligence Command and the pastor who officiated the country’s first gay marriages.

Also on the Kremlin list is Ian Scott, head of broadcasting regulator the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, which this year banned the Russian state-owned
broadcaster RT from Canada’s airwaves.

Read More:

• Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek banned from Russia

• Alberta adding new supports for Ukrainian refugees

• Calgarians gather to share solidarity for Ukrainians at ‘Holodomor Monument’

Moscow’s latest round of sanctions also targets multiple staff of Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, who has been an outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement it’s taking steps in response to Canadian sanctions, including those against Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, which the ministry said was an insult to Orthodox believers around the world.

Platonova says it acknowledges the hard work of the community in supporting Ukraine’s freedom and cherishing Ukrainian culture and language in Canada.

She says being on the ban list of the blood-soaked regime of Putin means an acknowledgment of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) Calgary, which is fully volunteer based.

They have another rally and march for peace on Sunday, Aug. 8 at Poppy Plaza.

–With files from The Canadian Press