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Boris Johnson announces 'barrage of Russian sanctions' after Putin sends troops in Ukraine

Kate Buck and Nadine Batchelor-Hunt
·5-min read
Boris Johnson announced the new sanctions in the House of Commons (Parliament)
Boris Johnson announced the new sanctions in the House of Commons (Parliament)

  • The UK has announced sanctions on five Russian banks and three oligarchs

  • The PM said a "renewed invasion" is underway after Putin sent troops into eastern Ukraine

  • Putin gave the order hours after officially recognising two disputed regions in the country

  • On Tuesday, Russia's parliament gave the green light to Putin to deploy armed forces abroad

  • Germany has announced it is halting the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline

The UK has sanctioned five Russian banks and three "very high net worth individuals" in retaliation after Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops and tanks into eastern Ukraine.

Putin yesterday formally recognised two breakaway regions in Donetsk and Luhansk in Ukraine as independent, effectively ripping up the 2015 Minsk peace treaty and further inflaming tense relations with the West.

The Russian leader then authorised "peacekeeping" soldiers into the region, with videos online showing tanks and armoured vehicles appearing on the streets of Donetsk in a move that Western officials branded an invasion.

On Tuesday afternoon, Putin said the Minsk agreements - the diplomat framework for peace in the region - no longer existed blaming Kyiv instead of Moscow for killing it off.

Boris Johnson condemned Putin's actions and told MPs the punitive measures were the "first tranche" and "first barrage" in response to Moscow invading Ukraine and breaking international law.

He added: “Any assets they hold in the UK will be frozen, the individuals concerned will be banned from travelling here and we will prohibit all UK individuals and entities from having any dealings with them."

MOSCOW, RUSSIA - FEBRUARY 22: (----EDITORIAL USE ONLY â MANDATORY CREDIT -
Putin is facing sanctions from across the globe over his actions in Ukraine (Getty)

The five Russian banks being sanctioned are:

  • Rossiayaz Bank

  • IS Bank

  • General Bank

  • Promsvyazbank

  • Black Sea Bank

The three "very high net worth individuals" being sanctioned are:

  • Gennady Timchenko

  • Igor Rotenberg

  • Boris Rotenberg

Officials said a “much longer list” of oligarchs is being considered for further sanctions after a number of MPs, including many Conservatives, called on the PM to impose stronger measures immediately.

Foreign secretary Liz Truss said the UK will go further on sanctions against Russia if it “does not pull back from the brink” in Ukraine.

Johnson also applied pressure on European football governing body Uefa not to hold its Champions League final in St Petersburg in June, saying there should be “no chance of holding football tournaments in a Russia that invades sovereign countries”.

The UK's sanctions are not the first repercussion to come from Putin's actions.

Germany announced on Tuesday it was halting the Nord Stream 2 pipeline on Tuesday, marking another chapter in the complicated relationship between continental Europe and Moscow when it comes to gas.

Russia has formally recognised two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine (Reuters)
Russia has formally recognised two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine (Reuters)
Ukraine's most populated areas (Reuters)
Ukraine's most populated areas (Reuters)

Nord Stream 2 is a new gas pipeline between Russia and Europe that runs under the Baltic Sea that would ease prices in the continent, which have been at a record high for months.

Compared to some of its allies, France and Germany have taken a more measured approach in their rhetoric towards Russia in recent months.

France has sought to ease tensions between Moscow and the West, while Germany has refrained from supplying military weapons to Ukraine, a move which has been criticised by some of its Nato allies.

Germany's reliance on Russian gas has been a sticking point between Washington and Berlin for years.

Watch: Tanks and armoured personnel carriers near Donetsk, according to Reuters witness

Read more: Ministry of Defence posts map of how Putin could invade Ukraine on Twitter

On Tuesday German chancellor Olaf Scholz said the "situation has fundamentally changed" as he ordered a new assessment of how Germany's energy supplies can be secured.

Scholz had been under intense pressure to suspend the opening of the pipeline, despite the benefits it would bring to Europe.

Downing Street said the prime minister believes it is right to “snip the feed of Nord Stream from our bloodstream”.

A tank drives along a street after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the deployment of Russian troops to two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine following the recognition of their independence, in the separatist-controlled city of Donetsk, Ukraine February 22, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko
Tanks and and armoured vehicles have been seen on the streets in Donetsk as tensions rise. (Reuters)

Johnson held an emergency Cobra meeting on Tuesday morning to consider the response to Putin's actions.

Speaking after, Johnson said the Russian president was "bent on a full-scale invasion".

Speaking about the situation in Ukraine on Tuesday morning, health secretary Sajid Javid said: "We have seen that he has recognised these breakaway eastern regions in Ukraine and from the reports we can already tell that he has sent in tanks and troops.

“From that you can conclude that the invasion of Ukraine has begun.”

Read more: Putin declares Ukraine regions of Luhansk and Donetsk independent entities in signed decree

A tank drives along a street after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the deployment of Russian troops to two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine following the recognition of their independence, in the separatist-controlled city of Donetsk, Ukraine February 22, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko
A tank drives along a street after Putin ordered the deployment of Russian troops in the separatist-controlled city of Donetsk (Reuters)
Prime Minister Boris Johnson during a media briefing in Downing Street, London, to outline the Government's new long-term Covid-19 plan. Picture date: Monday February 21, 2022.
Johnson said Putin had “gravely miscalculated” the situation as he announced the UK would be sanctioning "Russian economic interests as hard as we can”. (PA)

Putin has been on the brink of invasion for weeks, after stationing tens of thousands of troops on the border of Ukraine.

The Russian leader has spoken regularly in recent months about how Ukraine has no right to exist and it was a mistake to allow Russia and Ukraine to be separated when the Soviet Union broke up.