Japan to freeze assets of Putin’s daughters as sanctions

Jiji Press

11:40 JST, April 13, 2022

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — The government on Tuesday decided to freeze the assets of 398 individuals, including two daughters of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and 28 organizations as part of its additional sanctions for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Tokyo made the decision, in line with a recent announcement by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, in order to keep in step with other Group of Seven nations.

The 398 individuals who will see their assets frozen include Putin’s daughters, Maria Vorontsova and Katerina Tikhonova, as well as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s wife and daughter.

The government also decided to ban imports of Russian alcoholic products including vodka, as well as electric and other machinery and wood, from April 19.

Products under existing import contracts will not be subject to the ban for three months.

It is the first time for Japan to impose an import ban as part of its sanctions against Russia for its military attacks on Ukraine.

Entities newly added to the asset freeze list include state-owned Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, and top private lender Alfa Bank. Tokyo also decided to prohibit fresh investment in Russia from May 12.