Japan's government has banned the export of luxury goods to Russia. The move is to pressure oligarchs -- wealthy tycoons who are close to President Vladimir Putin.

The ban took effect from Tuesday. It applies to 19 items, including cars worth over 6 million yen or about 49,000 dollars, and motorcycles valued at more than 600,000 yen or about 4,900 dollars. High-end whiskey and watches worth over 40,000 yen or about 330 dollars are also on the list.

Japan already bans in principle Russia-bound exports of about 300 items. These include products that can be converted to military use and general-purpose semiconductor chips.

Items used for humanitarian purposes are exempted.