Australia targets Putins daughters, Russian senators in fresh sanctions

div classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodivpSYDNEY Reuters – The Australian government has imposed sanctions and travel bans on two daughters of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrovs daughter, it said in a statement on Friday.p

pIt follows similar measures undertaken by other Western nations including the United States and Britain, and takes the total number of people and entities in Russia subject to Australian sanctions to nearly 750. pdivdivdiv classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodiv

pIt did not name the two Putin daughters but the Russian president is known to have two adult daughters, Katerina Tikhonova and Maria Vorontsova. The statement added President Putin and Lavrov were added to the sanctions list on Feb. 27.p

pThe fresh round of sanctions also targets 144 Russian senators who provided support to President Putin by approving the “illegitimate” recognition as independent the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine on Feb. 22, Australias foreign ministry said in its statement.p

pForeign Minister Marisa Payne added that Australia will continue to increase costs on Russia by targeting those who bear responsibility for the “unjustified and unprovoked aggression in Ukraine”. Russia calls its invasion a “special military operation” to demilitarise and “denazify” Ukraine. p

pLast week, Australia imposed targeted financial sanctions on 14 Russian stateowned enterprises, including defencerelated entities such as truckmaker Kamaz and shipping companies SEVMASH and United Shipbuilding Corp.p

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pp Reporting by Praveen Menon Editing by Emelia SitholeMatarisep

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