Australia announced on Sunday (02.02.2022) the imposition of new financial sanctions and travel bans on 28 Russian personalities , including separatists, ministers and senior officials, after Russian President Vladimir Putin proclaimed this week the annexation of four occupied territories in Ukraine , a fact that violates international law.
The measure is added to a series of sanctions already imposed by the oceanic country on Russian individuals and entities linked to the military invasion that began on February 24 and is a response to Russia “for its unilateral, illegal and immoral war against Ukraine” , according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“These additional sanctions reinforce Australia’s strong objection to the actions of President Putin and those carrying out his orders,” said portfolio holder Penny Wong, quoted in a statement released today.
The new sanctions are aimed at people who were violating international law to “legitimize Russia’s illegal actions in Ukraine through fake referendums, disinformation and intimidation.”
Wong also described the annexation of the Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions – Ukrainian territories under Russian military control – as “illegal” and considered that the “Russian referendums in the occupied areas of Ukraine are illegitimate and have no legal effect. “.
“The areas of Ukraine currently occupied by Russian forces are sovereign territory of Ukraine. No fake referendum will change that,” he stressed.
Putin announced last Friday the incorporation of the four Ukrainian regions after the holding of controversial referendums, which were denounced by kyiv and several Western countries as illegal and coercive.
The Australian Foreign Ministry further reported that Canberra has filed an intervention with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in support of Ukraine and its claims that Russia violated the Genocide Convention.
“We support Ukraine in bringing these proceedings against Russia before the International Court of Justice,” said the country’s attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, quoted in the note.