Japan announced fresh sanctions against Russia on Friday over its invasion of Ukraine, targeting its military as well as the construction and engineering sectors.

Russia was hit with a wave of sanctions after it sent forces into Ukraine in February last year, but calls have grown from Kyiv and its allies for tougher action against Moscow.

The latest embargo by Tokyo follows the Group of Seven summit Japan hosted last week in Hiroshima, where the bloc's leaders agreed to "starve Russia of G7 technology, industrial equipment and services that support its war machine".

The new Japanese sanctions include "an asset freeze of Russian individuals and groups, a ban on the export of goods to Russia's military-related organizations, and a ban on the export of construction and engineering services to Russia," top government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters.

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The asset freeze targets 17 individuals and 78 groups, including high-level military officials, while the 80 organizations hit with export restrictions include the Russian mobile phone operator MegaFon, according to the Japanese government.

The United States, Britain and the European Union have all announced fresh punishments against Moscow recently, as well as commitments of more military aid to Ukraine, including F-16 fighters.

Matsuno also condemned plans to deploy Russian tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus.

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said Thursday that Moscow had begun moving nukes to its territory.

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‘You Will Be Left to Suffer and Die’: Rutte Warns Young Russians Against Fighting in Ukraine

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte issued a stark appeal to young Russians not to fight in the war in Ukraine, saying they will be sent to the front with poor training, bad equipment and a high chance of being killed, wounded or abandoned. He backed his warning with NATO estimates that Russia is losing more than 30,000 soldiers a month – more in a single month than the Soviet Union lost during its entire 10-year war in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

Matsuno said this will "further escalate the situation".

"As the only country to have suffered atomic bombings during wartime, Japan can never tolerate Russia's threat of nuclear weapons, not to mention their use."

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