The government has implemented a new host of sanctions on malicious cyber actors and people believed to be supporting Russia in the war on Ukraine.

Today Foreign Minister Winston Peters announced the 35th round of sanctions against Russia, with 20 new individuals and entities being designated.

These include several actors involved in the Kremlin’s hybrid warfare tactics of Russian cybercrime and the dissemination of anti-Ukraine propaganda.

Others designated are involved in Russia’s military-industrial complex, such as North Korean and Iranian actors supporting Putin’s military campaigns.

New Zealand deemed Russia’s aggression towards the Ukraine illegal in February 2022 and has taken various economic and political measures against Moscow in the years since the conflict began.

More than 2000 individuals, entities, and vessels have been the subject of sanctions since the Russia Sanctions Act came into force in March 2022.

“Those who misuse online platforms to support Russia’s war against Ukraine will face real consequences, including sanctions,” Peters said.

The sanctions will also target an alternative payment provider being used in Russia to evade the existing sanctions in force.

“We are targeting the payment infrastructure that has helped enable Russia’s war against Ukraine,” Peters said.