Japanese energy company Kyushu Electric Power has decided not to buy Russian coal this year amid the intensifying international sanctions against Russia over its military operation in Ukraine, media reported on Saturday, according to Sputnik.

According to the NHK broadcaster, last fiscal year, Kyushu Electric Power purchased from Russia 8 percent of the coal needed for its power plants.

The company has no long-term contracts with Russia and has not signed any short-term contracts with Russian firms since the start of the military operation in Ukraine.

This move demonstrates that Kyushu Electric Power has already found alternative suppliers of coal.

The Western countries and their allies, including Japan, have strongly condemned the Russian military operation in Ukraine, calling it an “invasion,” and imposed harsh sanctions on Moscow.