Putin promises to protect, patronise bank hit by U.S. sanctions

MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin on Friday vowed to protect Bank Rossiya, a Russian bank subjected to U.S. sanctions over Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region, and said he would keep his salary there. Putin's remarks were a rebuke to the United States, which said it singled out Bank Rossiya because it is the personal bank for senior Russian officials and is controlled by an associate of Putin. He said the St. Petersburg-based bank had nothing to do with the events in Crimea. (Reporting by Alexei Anishchuk; Writing by Steve Gutterman, editing by Elizabeth Piper)