Australia announces fresh sanctions against 'propagandists' Russia

Australia has imposed another round of sanctions against Russia for its "unjustified invasion" of Ukraine and is targeting Moscow's senior military officers, as well as state propagandists spreading "pro-Kremlin disinformation".

As per an official statement by Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, the Australian government is placing sanctions on Moscow's "propagandists and purveyors of disinformation" trying to legitimise Russia's invasion with false narratives such as the "de-Nazification" of Ukraine.

"The new round of sanctions will impose targeted financial sanctions on the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, and targeted financial sanctions and travel bans against an additional six senior Russian military commanders responsible for implementing naval, ground and air attacks on Ukraine," said the statement.

"The Australian Government is sanctioning 10 people of strategic interest to Russia for their role in encouraging hostility towards Ukraine and promoting pro-Kremlin propaganda to legitimise Russia's invasion," it added.

Notably, last week, Australia also imposed targeted financial sanctions on 11 financial institutions of economic significance to Russia, including the Central Bank of Russia.

The statement further informed that the Australian government is working with digital platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Google to take action to suspend the dissemination of content generated by Russian state media within Australia.

"Our designation of the Russian Armed Forces covers the Russian Ground Forces, Russian Navy, and Russian Aerospace Forces, as well as the Strategic Missile Troops and Russian Airborne Troops, and has the effect of prohibiting the export of goods from Australia to all Russian military end users," said the statement.

The foreign minister said that Australia will work collectively with its global partners to remove Russia's ability to continue financing its war by targeting its most significant banks, including those critical to its defence sector.

"Australia and partners will continue to impose costs on Russia's egregious, unlawful and completely unjustified war on Ukraine. We again call upon Russia to withdraw its military forces immediately from Ukraine," said the minister.

Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions, Donetsk and Luhansk as independent republics followed by the announcement of a "special military operation" to "demilitarize" and "denazify" Ukraine.

Several countries including the UK, the US, Canada, and the European Union have condemned Russia's military operations and imposed sanctions on Moscow.

( With inputs from ANI )