SYDNEY, May 4. /TASS/. The Australian government announced an additional package of sanctions against 75 lawmakers from Russia and 32 ministers from the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR respectively) over the situation in Ukraine, the Australian Foreign Ministry’s press office said in a statement on Wednesday.

According to the statement, among the blacklisted officials are 75 lawmakers from the Russian Parliament’s lower house, the State Duma, as well as 20 ministers representing the Donetsk People’s Republic and 12 ministers serving for the Lugansk People’s Republic.

The Australian government’s newly-published list of sanctions also blacklists Russia’s television broadcasting journalist Vladimir Solovyov.

As of today, Australia has blacklisted over 700 citizens of Russia and Belarus, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko as well as a number of high-ranking ministers of both countries.

On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced recognizing the sovereignty of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. Russia recognized the Donbass republics in accordance with the DPR and LPR constitutions within the boundaries of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions as of the beginning of 2014.

Russian President Putin said in a televised address on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in Ukraine. 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.

On April 22, the Australian Department of Home Affairs said in a statement that the country’s government opted to introduce sanctions against 147 Russian individuals regarding developments in Ukraine.