Australia joins allies in sanctioning Russian oligarchs

Australia on Monday joined its Western partners and announced fresh sanctions against 33 prominent Russian businessmen and their close relatives, official said.

The sanctions targeted figures who amassed vast personal wealth, as well as economic and strategic significance to Russia and have close ties with President Vladimir Putin, the office of Foreign Minister Marise Payne said in a statement.

Chelsea Football Club owner was among those hit by the sanctions, as were Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller, Rossiya Airlines Chairman Dmitri Lebedev, and head of defense conglomerate Rostec Sergey Chemezov.

Nikolay Tokarev, CEO of pipeline transport company Transneft, along with Vnesheconombank Chairman Igor Shuvalov and Russian Direct Investment Fund CEO Kirill Dmitriev were also on the sanctions list.

"We strongly support recent announcements by Canada, the European Union, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States of further restrictive measures against key Russian individuals," said Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne.

Australia has so far imposed sanctions on 460 Russian individuals and entities, including a travel ban on President Vladimir Putin and other key civilian and military officials.

"We will continue to coordinate closely with our partners to impose a high cost on Russia for its actions," said Payne.

Since Russia launched its war on Ukraine, more than 2.8 million people have fled to other countries, according to UN estimates.

At least 596 civilians have also been killed and 1,067 injured in Ukraine, it said.

While the EU, US and others have imposed sanctions on Moscow, many companies and global brands have also suspended operations in Russia.