U.S. joins G7 sanctions against Russian banks accused of aiding war in Ukraine

Nov. 21 (UPI) -- The Treasury Department Thursday sanctioned dozens of Russian banks and securities registrars as part of a broader move by G7 nations targeting Russia's war on Ukraine.

Gazprombank, more than 50 internationally connected Russian banks, 40 Russian securities registrars and 15 Russian finance officials were included, according to the Treasury Department.

"Today's sanctions targeting Russia's largest remaining non-designated bank, as well as dozens of other financial institutions and officials in Russia, will further diminish and degrade Russia's war machine," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement. "This sweeping action will make it harder for the Kremlin to evade U.S. sanctions and fund and equip its military."

Gazprombank and its six foreign subsidiaries were sanctioned for allegedly being a conduit for Russia to buy military material for its war on Ukraine. The bank is used to pay soldiers and families of Russian soldiers killed attacking Ukraine.

The Treasury Department also issued an alert Thursday "underscoring the sanctions risk for foreign financial institutions that join Russia's System for Transfer of Financial Messages."

That system, Treasury said, is used by Russia to maintain international financial connectivity, evade sanctions and fund its military attack against Ukraine.

More than 50 small-to-medium sized Russian banks were sanctioned "to prevent Russia from abusing the international financial system to pay for the technology and equipment it needs to sustain its illegal and unjust war against Ukraine."

Eleven people working for the Central Bank of Russia were also sanctioned.

They are:

• Alla Bakina, Director of the National Payment System Department of the CBR;
• Vladimir Chistyukhin, a First Deputy Governor of the CBR since 2022 and a member of the board of directors of the CBR since 2023;
• Elizaveta Danilova, Director of the Financial Stability Department at the CBR;
• Gulnara Khaidarshina, Director of the Department for Cooperation with International Organizations at the CBR;
• Mikhail Anatolyevich Kovrigin, Director of the International Settlements Department at the CBR;
• Ekaterina Lozgacheva, Director of the Financial Market Strategy Department of the CBR since 2023;
• Alexandr Morozov, Director of the Research and Forecasting Department at the CBR since 2015;
• Olga Vasilyevna Polyakova , a deputy governor of the CBR since 2016 and a member of the board of directors of the CBR since 2021;
• Kirill Pronin, Director of the Financial Market Infrastructure at the CBR;
• Bogdan Shablya, head of the CBR's Financial Monitoring and Currency Control Department;
• and Dmitry Tulin, a first deputy governor of the CBR.

Treasury sanctions include the following people associated with VTB Bank Public Joint Stock Company's Shanghai branch and New Delhi's Sberbank: Andrei Anisimov, Sberbank New Delhi's Deputy Managing Director; VTB Shanghai Relationship Manager Elena Fedkina; Ilya Lishenko, VTB Shanghai's Senior Relationship Manager; and Roman Logov, VTB Shanghai's Deputy General Manager.