As the US unleashes a new barrage of sanctions against several Russian companies, it seems that the actual impact of these new punitive measures will barely be noticeable.

Earlier in the day, the United States imposed sanctions against eight Russian entities in connection with the Iran, North Korea, and Syria Nonproliferation Act (INKSNA).

The companies affected by the sanctions are the 150th Aircraft Repair Plant, Aviaexport, Bazalt, Kolomna Design Bureau of Machine-Building (KBM), Rosoboronexport (ROE), Ulyanovsk Higher Aviation Academy of Civil Aviation (UVAUGA), Ural Training Center for Civil Aviation (UUTsCA), and the Zhukovskiy and Gagarin Academy (Z&G Academy).

Alexey Pushkov, a senior member of the Russian parliament's upper house, pointed out, however, that the sanctions are unlikely to have a significant impact on Russian arms exports.

"The new US sanctions won’t have a serious impact on Russian arms exports," the senator wrote on Twitter, adding that if the US President Donald Trump "fails to stop the anti-Russian campaign in the US, it will tie his hands for the entire duration of his presidency."

His opinion was echoed by Lt. General Yevgeny Buzhinsky, former chief of the Russian Defense Ministry’s International Treaty Directorate.

The general remarked that after all the sanctions previously imposed by the US against Russian entities like the state-owned corporation Rostec, a few more punitive measures are unlikely to have any noticeable impact on the situation.

He noted, however, that it is hard to determine exactly how justified this last round of sanctions is, because the document which serves as the basis for this measure has yet to be made public.

"It’s hard to comment on this issue without knowing all the details. They (the US) have domestic legislation which states that if some country sells equipment, then it automatically gets slapped with sanctions. Until this document is made public, it’s hard to tell exactly what kind of infraction Russia might have committed," Buzhinsky explained.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Russian lower house of parliament's International Affairs Committee Leonid Slutsky told RIA Novosti that these new sanctions look like an attempt to provoke a powerful reaction from Moscow, and urged to exercise restraint in this matter.

"Provocations are meant to do exactly that, to provoke us," Slutsky said.