More sanctions for Russia three years on from war

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Australia has imposed further travel restrictions and economic penalties on Russian individuals and organisations, three years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In a joint statement, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Defence Minister Richard Marles, and Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced on Monday that the government's imposing an extra 149 sanctions.

This brings the overall number of sanctions to over 1400 as a result of Russia commencing the conflict on 24 February, 2022.

"Once again, Australia is calling on Russia to stop its war immediately and fully comply with its obligations under international law, including in relation to the protection of civilians and the treatment of prisoners of war," the statement says.

Australia has committed over one and a half billion dollars in assistance to Ukraine.

Ukraine's top diplomat in Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, was with his family in Kyiv when Russian paratroopers began landing just 20 minutes from his home.

I won't ever forget the early hours of five in the morning when my wife brought me out of my sleep.

I heard the explosions and my 18-year-old daughter and my five-year-old son were with me.

My missus said, 'we need to go'.

In a recent interview with the US media outlet NBC News, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated that over 46,000 Ukrainian defence force personnel had lost their lives defending their country, with approximately 380,000 troops being wounded.

Add to the scale of suffering 20,000 kids forcibly deported to Russia, plus tens of thousands of Ukrainians who've gone missing or are being held captive.

The actual number of the thousands of civilians killed in the occupied Ukrainian region is still unclear.

Mr Myroshnychenko pointed out that the rules-based international system is under threat.

"Rewarding Russia for aggression sends a very bad message to other authoritarian leaders, especially in our region, in the Pacific, and for Australia, for New Zealand, for all the Pacific Islands," he said.

When something doesn't matter to us anymore, the world can become a very hazardous place.

The Ukrainian ambassador described Vladimir Putin as a "gangster" who needed to be held accountable for war crimes, including the downing of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in 2014 which resulted in the deaths of 38 Australians.

Rallies in support of Ukraine took place in the country's capital cities over the weekend, as well as a commemorative vigil in Melbourne.

A memorial service will be held at the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Canberra on Monday, and will be attended by Australian officials, diplomats and the Ukrainian community.

Peter Dutton and opposition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie said the coalition stood with Ukraine and for an outcome that fully respected its sovereignty.

"No reward should be given to the brutal dictator Putin, as it would only encourage other ruthless leaders to follow his example," they said.

Co-chair of the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations Kateryna Argyrou said the war had taken a "massive impact".

"But the Ukrainians are a resilient lot and will keep resisting Russian aggression," she said.