Tokyo tower. File photoTOKYO, Apr 12 Japan has included 398 individuals in the list of additional sanctions against Russia, including Maria Vorontsova, Katerina Tikhonova, Maria Lavrova and Yekaterina Vinokurova, according to a press release from the Japanese Foreign Ministry. The document claims that Vorontsova and Tikhonova are “the daughters of Vladimir Putin.” The sanctions, which involve freezing assets, also apply to Maria Lavrova and Ekaterina Vinokurova, who are listed in the document as “the wife and daughter of Sergei Lavrov,” respectively. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24th. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and , on March 25, completed the main tasks of the first stage — significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.
