Where the stolen loot from ram raids is going, person arrested over suspicious fires and countries unite to support Ukraine in the latest NZ Herald headlines. Video / NZ Herald
The Russian embassy in New Zealand has taken to Twitter today to mock the sanctions announced against its nation yesterday.
The sanctions, revealed by Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta and Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O'Connor, included new bans on exports and imports of luxury goods like New Zealand wine, seafood, Russian vodka, and caviar as well as products like oil and gas.
The sanctions, in opposition to Russia's war in Ukraine, come on the heels of deadly missile strikes by Moscow across at least 14 regions in Ukraine.
Today, Russia's NZ embassy posted on Twitter poking fun at the bans.
"We do not need anything from you. You have nothing to offer us. When will you understand?" another said.
Windborne, a 1928 schooner based in Whitianga, and Mary of York, a Chesapeake skipjack from Kerikeri, cruise past the Helena Bay property during the Ukraine Peace Flotilla. Photo / Peter de Graaf
The NZ Government also announced yesterday that Russian billionaire oligarch Alexander Abramov was included in the latest sanctions since the war began in Eastern Europe.
Abramov is the co-founder and former chief executive of multinational steel manufacturing and mining company Evraz. He owns a $50 million lodge in Northland's Helena Bay.
In March, a Peace Flotilla comprised of yachts, dinghies and kayaks converged on the luxury property to urge one of Russia's wealthiest men to pressure President Vladimir Putin to end the war.
Fifty-one oligarchs, including Abramov, have been targeted through the new sanctions, alongside 24 Russian-backed officeholders in newly annexed areas of Ukraine.
Abramov and his immediate family would be subjected to a travel ban, and their aircraft and vessels would be banned from entering New Zealand airspace and ports.
