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Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong and Attorney General Mark Dreyfus said the new measures would target 28 “Russian-appointed separatists, ministers and senior officials”.
Moscow recently held so-called referenda in the regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia with the goal of determining whether the residents wished to become part of Russia.
The votes were internationally condemned and remain unrecognised, with reports of people being forced to vote at gunpoint.
Australia’s position is that the annexation is “illegal” and “any claims that these territories are now part of Russia are baseless and false”.
“These additional sanctions reinforce Australia’s strong objection to the actions of President Putin and those carrying out his orders,” Wong said.
“The areas of Ukraine currently occupied by Russian forces are the sovereign territory of Ukraine. No sham referendum will change this.”
Australia has also filed an intervention in the International Court of Justice case brought by Ukraine against Russia, supporting Ukraine’s claims Russia has violated the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Genocide Convention).
The ICJ in March ordered Russia to immediately withdraw from Ukraine, a ruling Russia as a member of the United Nations is theoretically obliged to obey.
Ukrainian soldiers embrace as Russians retreat
