UK imposes sanctions against five Russian banks

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (pictured) made a statement in Parliament on the imposition of sanctions against Russians.

Rotenberg and Timchenko will be denied entry to the UK, in addition, all British companies and nationals will be prohibited from any cooperation with them, the prime minister warned. All assets of these people and banks in Britain will be frozen.

According to media reports, along with the oligarchs Timchenko and Rotenberg, Rossiya Bank, Promsvyazbank, Industrial Savings Bank, the Black Sea Bank for Development and Reconstruction (the Black Sea Bank) and Genbank fell under sanctions.

Johnson added that "new tranches" will follow the sanctions imposed today.

“He also said that Europe should prepare for a full-scale Russian military offensive against Ukraine”, - Interfax notes.

According to Johnson, if Russia is not stopped, then the target of unjustified military aggression will be a European country with a population of 44 million people. Johnson urged to start looking for ways to peacefully resolve the conflict in Donbass.

Earlier on February 22, Johnson said Russia was facing a "flurry of sanctions" after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree recognizing the independence of the Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics (LPR and DPR).

According to Johnson, Putin will regret recognizing the DNR and LNR, and threatened the Russian Federation with an avalanche of new sanctions. They will primarily affect people who "support the Russian military machine".

The British Prime Minister explained that "it is absolutely vital that these efforts, this conquest of another European country, should not succeed." He signaled that Britain and its allies would work to ensure that Putin "failed" in this mission.

In economic terms, Russia has already lost a lot from the military operation in the DNR and LNR. Last weekend, when hostilities resumed in the Donbass, the shares of Russian companies continued to plummet. At the beginning of morning trading on February 22, the Moscow Exchange index fell by 5.44%. The night before, the Moscow Exchange index showed the largest drop of 10.5%, to 3036. In total, shares of Russian companies collapsed by a trillion rubles.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the document recognizing the independence of the LPR and the DPR the day before, on February 21. This happened after the meeting of the Security Council. As soon as this became known, the permanent representatives of the European Union announced the beginning on February 22 of the procedure for preparing targeted sanctions against Moscow. EU leaders called the decision of the Russian president "egregious", they are sure that this is a violation of international law. At the same time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the country would remain within "internationally recognized borders".

Today it became known about the entry of Russian troops into the territory of Donbass. The authorities of Great Britain, the USA and a number of EU countries have warned of the imminent imposition of sanctions against the Russian Federation in connection with the recognition of the DPR and LPR and the start of a military operation in the Donbass.