Australia has hit Russia with another round of sanctions targeting senior military officers, as well as state propagandists spreading "pro-Kremlin disinformation".
The list includes six senior Russian military commanders "responsible for implementing naval, ground and air attacks on Ukraine" as well as Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov, the director of information for Russia's Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova, and Russians affiliated with state efforts to legitimise the invasion.
On top of that the government has directly sanctioned the Russian armed forces, which will prohibit the export of any Australian goods to entities which supply the Russian military.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the unusual decision to target those amplifying Russian narratives justifying the invasion "recognises the powerful impact that disinformation and propaganda can have in conflict".
"Russia's invasion of Ukraine has been accompanied by a widespread disinformation campaign, both within Russia and internationally," she said in a statement.
"Tragically for Russia, President [Vladimir] Putin has shut down independent voices and locked everyday Russians into a world characterised by lies and disinformation."
Australia has already placed wide-ranging sanctions on multiple Russian institutions and a host of senior Russian leaders, including Mr Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
It is part of a US-led global campaign to financially isolate Russia and cripple its financial institutions, including by imposing an asset freeze on Russia's central banks and blocking some Russian institutions from international payments systems.
The US and European countries have also been discussing a ban on Russia's crude oil exports, although Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz has warned that step could endanger Europe's energy security.
The sanctions are already starting to hurt Russia's economy. The value of the Russian rouble has plunged, and Moscow's stock exchange has been closed for several days. Analysts say inflation and the cost of borrowing will spike, which is likely to push Russia into a deep recession.
Senator Payne said Australia and other countries were determined to impose a "high price" on "those responsible for, and complicit in, Russia's war on Ukraine".
Russia has responded by placing Australia and other nations implementing sanctions — including most European countries, the US, Singapore, Japan and South Korea — on a list of "unfriendly countries."
That will allow Russian citizens and companies to pay back foreign creditors from those countries in roubles, as well as intensifying Russian government scrutiny on any corporate deals between Russian businesses and counterparts from nations on the list.
