Though the sentence was handed down more than 100 days ago, Foreign Minister Penny Wong has yet to announce any sanctions against the trio under Australia’s Magnitsky-style Russia and Ukraine Autonomous Sanctions regime for causing the crash.

Senator Simon Birmingham, the Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, has urged Minister Wong to apply sanctions and maintain pressure on those responsible for the MH17 disaster, in which 38 Australians lost their lives.

“This was a tragedy of enormous proportions and, while Russia may continue to stand in the way of justice, we should still use all means available to Australia,” he told The Sydney Morning Herald.

“We should be willing to lead and to urge others to join Australia. There should be no more encouragement needed than the guilty verdicts for Minister Wong to apply sanctions on these murderers or to provide a very strong justification for why no course of action has been taken to date.”

Under the sanctions regime, which was first imposed by the Abbott Government in 2014 before being extended in 2015 and 2022, travel bans could be imposed on the three men, as well as financial sanctions.

If they were designated for targeted sanctions, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade would prohibit anyone from “directly or indirectly making an asset available to, or for the benefit of” Girkin, Dubinskiy, and Kharchenko.

“It is also prohibited to use or deal with an asset, or allow or facilitate another person to use or deal with an asset, that is owned or controlled by a designated person or entity (the assets are ‘frozen’ and cannot be used or dealt with),” DFAT says.

“The prohibition on ‘dealing’ with assets includes using, selling or moving assets. An ‘asset’ includes an asset or property of any kind, whether tangible or intangible, movable or immovable.”

In a statement to the Sydney Morning Herald, a DFAT spokesperson said Australia is working with its partners to pursue “multiple avenues” to hold the perpetrators to account.

“Australia keeps its sanctions under regular review. In line with longstanding practice, the government does not speculate or publicly comment on sanctions considerations.”

Separately, Australia and the Netherlands are taking legal action against Russia over its role in the MH17 tragedy after arguing there was now “overwhelming evidence” that the strike was ultimately the responsibility of the Russian Federation, rather than just those individuals currently on trial.