Ukraine Crisis: UK to impose sanctions on Russian banks, says PM Boris Johnson

London, February 22: Following the deployment of soldiers to two Moscow-backed regions of Ukraine, Britain is slated to impose sanctions on five Russian banks and three "very high-net-worth individuals" including Gennady Timchenko, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced. "The UK and our allies will begin to impose the sanctions on Russia that we have already prepared using the new and unprecedented powers granted by this House to sanction Russian individuals and entities of strategic importance to the Kremlin," Johnson said in parliament on Tuesday. "This is the first tranche, the first barrage of what we are prepared to do,” said the UK PM, adding, "Any assets they hold in the UK will be frozen and the individuals concerned will be banned from travelling here." Notably, Gennady Timchenko is a close ally of Putin. The other two Russian individuals facing sanctions are Igor Rotenberg and Boris Rotenberg. Meanwhile, Rossiya, IS Bank, General Bank, Promsvyazbank and the Black Sea Bank are among the sanctioned banks, according to Johnson. Also Read | Russia-Ukraine crisis: World leaders condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin "We must now brace ourselves for the next possible stages of Putin’s plan,” Johnson said in the lower house of the British parliament and informed that “Putin is establishing the pretext for a full-scale offensive.” Britain has also threatened to shut off Russian companies' access to US dollars and British pounds, preventing them from raising capital in London and exposing what Johnson calls the “Russian doll” of property and company ownership. According to IMF data, Russia's once-mighty superpower economy is now smaller than Italy's, with a nominal GDP of roughly $1.7 trillion (£1.25 trillion). Also read | Centre blocks apps, website of ‘Punjab Politics TV’ linked to Sikhs For Justice -PTC News