Two Russian shipyards have been placed on a new US sanctions list.

The action was taken against Yaroslavsky and Zelenodolsk by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in response to Russia’s continued and ongoing aggression in Ukraine, it said.

OFAC added the yards had played a role in Russia’s "unjustified attacks on Ukrainian naval vessels in the Kerch Strait, the purported annexation of Crimea, and backing of illegitimate separatist government elections in eastern Ukraine."