SYDNEY: The Australian government has imposed sanctions and travel bans on the daughters of Russian President Vladimir Putin and foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, it said in a statement today.

It follows similar measures undertaken by other Western nations including the US and Britain, and takes the total number of people and entities in Russia subject to Australian sanctions to nearly 750.

It did not name the two Putin daughters but the Russian president is known to have two adult daughters, Katerina Tikhonova and Maria Vorontsova. The statement added that Putin and Lavrov were added to the sanctions list on Feb 27.

The fresh round of sanctions also targets 144 Russian senators who provided support to Putin by approving the “illegitimate” recognition as independent the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine on Feb 22, Australia’s foreign ministry said in its statement.

Foreign minister Marisa Payne added that Australia will continue to increase costs on Russia by targeting those who bear responsibility for the “unjustified and unprovoked aggression in Ukraine”.

Russia calls its invasion a “special military operation” to demilitarise and “denazify” Ukraine.

Last week, Australia imposed targeted financial sanctions on 14 Russian state-owned enterprises, including defence-related entities such as truckmaker Kamaz and shipping companies Sevmash and United Shipbuilding Corp.