UK freezes assets of Russia's biggest bank

By Karim El-Bar

LONDON (AA) – The UK on Wednesday announced an asset freeze on Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, and a ban on all new outward investment in Russia.

The UK’s decision to sanction Sberbank was coordinated with the US.

Britain also froze the assets of Credit Bank of Moscow, and it will end all imports of Russian coal and oil by the end of 2022, the Foreign Office said.

A further eight Russian oligarchs were also sanctioned by the UK on Wednesday.

This is the fifth round of sanctions by the UK since Russia began its war on Ukraine.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in a statement: “We are showing the Russian elite that they cannot wash their hands of the atrocities committed on Putin’s orders. We will not rest until Ukraine prevails.”