New sanctions from New Zealand targeting some of Russia's richest business people come into force on Monday, including against Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich.
On Monday, Foreign Affairs Minister Nania Mahuta announced further sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.
"The Government has approved sanctions on a further 36 individuals, all of whom are Russian oligarchs or their close family members with close ties to the Russian regime or the Russian President himself," Mahuta said in a statement.
"This list includes some of Russia's richest businesspeople, as well as chairs and chief executives of some of Russia's biggest companies. They will not be able to travel to Aotearoa New Zealand, move assets here, or use our financial systems to hide from sanctions imposed by other countries."
The latest sanctions come after harrowing images have emerged of dead civilians following the latest assault by Russian forces - with hundreds of bodies discovered in the town of Bucha, near Ukraine's capital Kyiv.
Ukrainian-Kiwi lawyer Anastasiya Gutorova called the latest round of New Zealand sanctions on Russia "a great start, but it's not enough".
Gutorova was concerned that citizens in New Zealand could still contribute to the Russian war effort.
"The intention behind sanctions is really two-fold," she told AM. "First of all, it's to limit Russia's ability to finance the war and secondly it's to target people with power in Russia to undermine their support for the invasion, and we're not really doing enough on either of those fronts.
"To give you an example I, as a New Zealand citizen, can still transact with Russian state-owned enterprises right now; I can help them raise money, I can import Russian goods, I can still watch Russian state TV which is spreading propaganda."
Gutorova pointed at sanctions imposed by other Western nations as examples of what New Zealand should be doing.
"Their lists are significantly longer and wider in scope," she said. "We need to be following them and introducing sanctions which are in step with what Australia and the UK and the US are doing, for example."
The NZ Government also needed to "reidentify people holding any assets in New Zealand on behalf of the Russian government, and target them as well", Gutorova said.
Mahuta said more measures would be introduced in the coming weeks.
"New Zealand is appalled at reports over the weekend showing the targeted killing and abuse of civilians, as Russian troops withdraw from areas of Ukraine.
"Through our sanctions, we are working with the international community to put real pressure on those supporting Putin and his regime and send a clear message that this illegal invasion cannot continue and that the brutality and inhumane acts from Russian troops cannot be tolerated.
"Officials continue to work as quickly as possible to identify individuals and entities while ensuring legal thresholds are met and due diligence is given."
Biden calls for Putin war crimes trial
US President Joe Biden has once again called for Putin to be tried for war crimes over Ukraine, following the shocking discovery of hundreds of bodies in the town of Bucha.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who visited the site of mass graves in the town on Monday (local time), accused Russia of genocide.
Biden said all information needed to be gathered so a war crimes trial could be held against Putin.
"You saw what happened in Bucha," Biden told reporters at the White House. "This warrants him… he is a war criminal," Biden said of Putin.
Despite the atrocities, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday did not directly label Putin as a war criminal.
"We are supporting the International Criminal Court to make that determination but every piece of evidence points to the fact that there are war crimes being by Russia, in Ukraine, at the hands of the President, Vladimir Putin," she told a press conference at the Beehive.
