Ukraine's allies keep hitting Russia with more sanctions — and Russia keeps finding ways around them

Ukraine's allies, including the U.S. and Canada, recently slapped new sanctions on Russia. The latest round of punitive measures in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine come just days after Western leaders blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Previous sanctions have targeted Russian financial institutions, the country's lucrative oil and gas exports, members of Putin's inner circle and the extremely wealthy oligarchs who support him.

But round after round of sanctions have not changed the course of the conflict, nor do they appear to have weakened Putin's resolve. And they certainly have not brought the country's economy to its knees, as experts say Russia has not only managed to work around the sanctions, but is bolstering its economy with domestic spending on the war.

«Many of us are learning how difficult it is to use sanctions as part of the overall effort to achieve our strategic effect,» said Ben Hodges, a former commanding general of the U.S. Army in Europe, in an interview on CBC News Network.

«We have not closed the ring tight enough to change behaviour,» he said from Vilnius, Lithuania.

Russia willing to forego economic growth

The U.S. Treasury Department announced new sanctions last Friday against more than 500 entities and individuals associated with the Russian war effort — including defence manufacturing, aerospace and logistics companies — as well as prison leaders allegedly connected to Navalny's death.

Canada announced its own sanctions last week, on 10 individuals and 153 entities, as did Britain and the European Union.

Sanctions have, to some extent, «achieved an economic shock to Russia,» said Rachel Ziemba, an adjunct fellow at the Centre for