Japan imposes sanctions on 15 Russian officials, nine organisations

Japan on Friday announced that it would impose sanctions on 15 Russian individuals and nine organisations, including defence officials and the state-owned arms exporter Rosoboronexport.

The sanctions are the latest in a series of measures announced by Japan in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that began on February 24.

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According to the finance ministry, Japan has now imposed sanctions on 76 individuals, seven banks and 12 other organisations in Russia.

The list of sanctioned persons includes among others Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova and four deputy defence ministers: Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, Aleksey Krivoruchko, Timur Ivanov and Dmitry Bulgakov.

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The government said on Friday that several military equipment makers including United Aircraft Corp, which manufactures fighter jets, will be sanctioned, according to a Reuters report.

Rahm Emanuel, the US ambassador to Japan, praised Japan’s action. “These sanctions hit at the heart of Russia’s war machine,” the ambassador said in a statement.

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Earlier this week, a US Air Force cargo jet delivered helmets and other non-lethal military equipment donated by Japan to Ukraine.

Japan, a main security ally of the United States in Asia, still holds stakes in gas and oil projects in Russia’s Sakhalin island, after Shell (SHEL.L) and Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) withdrew from those projects.

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Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida gave no clear indication of how Japan’s investment in the projects will fare, underscoring both its importance to Japan’s energy security and his intention to remain in step with sanctions against Russia imposed by the G7.

Russia’s ambassador to Japan on Thursday said it was logical to maintain “mutually beneficial” energy projects in Sakhalin.

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In addition, Japan does not intend to ban Russian seafood, according to a Jiji Press report.

Japan is heavily dependent on Russia for certain seafood items such as sea urchin, frozen crab and seafood accounts for 9% of Japan’s total imports from Russia, according to the non-profit think tank Japan Forum of International Relations.