All news

Australia imposes sanctions on 147 Russian individuals

Australian Foreign Affairs Minister said that Australia "will continue to increase costs on Russia…, targeting those who bear responsibility for Russia’s … aggression in Ukraine or hold levers of influence in the country"

SYDNEY, April 22. /TASS/. The Australian government has imposed sanctions against 147 Russian individuals over the situation in Ukraine, the Australian Department of Home Affairs said in a letter distributed on Friday.

Australia’s individual sanctions target 144 members of the Federation Council (upper house) of the Russian Federal Assembly, as well as Maria Vorontsova and Katerina Tikhonova, who the document claims are the "daughters of Russian President" Vladimir Putin, and Ekaterina Vinokurova, mentioned in the document as a "daughter of Russian Foreign Minister" Sergey Lavrov, the department said in a report.

Australia "will continue to increase costs on Russia…, targeting those who bear responsibility for Russia’s … aggression in Ukraine or hold levers of influence in the country," Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne said, adding that the total number of sanctioned Russians was already close to 750.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation based on a request for help from the heads of the Donbass republics. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, noting that the operation was aimed at the denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine. The US, the EU, the UK and a number of other countries responded with sanctions on Russian individuals and legal entities.