COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is urging Ohio's public employee pension boards to pull all Russian-based investments from their portfolios.

The move is the latest response from Ohio in an attempt to distance themselves from Russia as the invasion of Ukraine continues.

Yost's letter asked pension boards to divest from Russian equities with "exceptional urgency" and called the move a matter of moral imperative.

According to the letter, one of Ohio's retirement systems has approximately $112 million in Russian investments.

Yost said if every state decides to equally divest, billions would be removed from Russia's economy. He noted that Russia-based assets will also decline in value due to the economic isolation of the country.

The call to divest from Russian investments follows a number of moves made by both the U.S. and Ohio.

Governor Mike DeWine called for all businesses to remove Russian-made vodka from their shelves over the weekend.

President Joe Biden announced sanctions against Russia and Vladimir Putin last week.

Seven Russian banks were also taken off Swift, a financial cooperative used throughout the world.