Japan has approved additional economic sanctions against Russia for its role in the unrest in Ukraine.  Tokyo had originally been moderate on sanctions, but the Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Tuesday bring Japan in line with measures taken by European Union and Group of Seven (G7) nations.

The sanctions include the freezing of assets held in Japan by 40 individuals and two groups supporting the separation of Crimea from Ukraine, and a ban on Crimean imports.  Japan announced the new sanctions after the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine, which western officials believe was caused by Russian-backed rebels using a Russian-supplied anti-aircraft missile.

Resumed fighting near the MH17 crash site prevented Australian and Dutch investigators from spending a full day at the site on Monday.

“The reality is that we’re working in an environment where there's conflict going on around us, and as we’ve said many times, it’s fluid, the environment is fluid, and today, that military activity was on the boundary of the crash site,” said Angus Houston, heading up Australia MH17 recovery mission.  He added that they’ve been able to retrieve the personal effects of more victims, and had them flown to the Netherlands with the rest of the bodies.

The fact is that the closing economic doors are having an effect on Russia.  One of the oligarchs specifically mentioned in US and European Union sanctions – billionaire businessman Gennady Timchenko, a close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin – says he can’t use his personal jet because of the restrictions.  The Gulfstream Company will no longer service his jet, and his pilots are not longer allowed to use the navigation equipment. 

And a Russian tourism company has shut down, leaving 27,000 people stranded on holiday from the Motherland. Labirint suspended operations, blaming currency exchange rates and the “negative political and economic situation”.  An agency assisting Russian tourists called Turpomoshch (Tour Help) says it is now trying to book Russians onto return flights in various countries, including Bulgaria, Egypt and Tunisia.