Australia to send drones to Ukraine and expand sanctions against Russia

The package rolls out travel bans and asset freezes for a further 90 Russian individuals and 40 Russian entities, including the state-owned media outlet Sputnik.

The drones, valued at $33m, are not armed but will help the Ukrainian armed forces monitor Russian troop movements as the war drags on.

This donation brings the total Australian military assistance to Ukraine to $510m, including 90 Bushmaster protected mobility vehicles, although the delivery schedule remains secret.

The chief executive of Channel One Russia, Konstantin Lvovich Ernst, is one of the media figures on the list, according to the sanctions instrument published late on Thursday.

The organisations include Task Force Rusich, which the sanctions notice describes as an armed separatist group involved in the fighting in eastern Ukraine.

The UN general assembly was expected to widely support a resolution co-sponsored by Australia urging Russia to withdraw from all parts of Ukraine.

During a visit to Australia, the historian Dr Olesya Khromeychuk, the director of the Ukrainian Institute London, said many Ukrainians had suffered prior to 24 February 2022. These included her brother, who was killed in action in eastern Ukraine in 2017.

Friday will also mark the graduation of the first rotation of about 200 Ukrainian recruits from the training program provided by Australian soldiers in the United Kingdom.