Japan sanctioning over 140 people from Russia, DPR, LPR

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As the war in Ukraine continues, Japan has imposed fresh sanctions on over 140 Russians, the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), and the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR), including Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, as well as 71 Russian enterprises, including Almaz-Antey.

The new sanctions list is now available on the Japanese Foreign Ministry's website.

Initially, it was stated that sanctions had been placed on 133 Russians, LPRs, and DPRs. According to the complete lists, there are 141 in all, with eight in Russia and 133 in the LPR and DPR.

Read more: Russia imposes sanctions against 63 Japanese citizens

Decision to abandon Russian oil painful, Kishida

According to the Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday, Japan has made a tough choice to ban Russian oil imports because G7 unanimity "matters most".

Following the G7 meeting, Kishida told a press briefing that he and the G7 leaders, as well as Zelensky, exchanged and reiterated solidarity with Ukraine.

"Considering oil, for our country heavily dependent on energy imports, this was a hard decision, but now it is the time when G7 cohesion matters most. Taking into account the G7 leaders’ statement, we ruled basically to ban imports of Russian oil."

Kishida also reaffirmed Japan's commitment to maintaining its holdings in the Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin-2 natural gas and oil extraction projects, while indicating that Tokyo intends to phase out oil imports on projects in which it also has a part.

"As for oil imports from our country's share [in the Russian projects], bearing in mind that they contribute to a durable, low-cost, and steady supply of energy, we will be scaling it down gradually to minimize the damaging effects on the people's lives and business activity," he stated.

G7 leaders virtually gathered on Sunday to discuss the latest events in Ukraine, with Zelensky also present. The G7 governments committed to continuing to impose sanctions on Russia for the operation in Ukraine by "phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil."

In addition, the G7 also committed to "reinforce Russia's isolation across all sectors of its economy," by cutting off the country from the "key services on which Russia depends."