The new sanctions hit Russia’s Sberbank, which owns a third of all of Russia’s banking assets, and Alfabank, the country’s fourth-largest financial institution, US officials said. However, energy transactions were excluded from the latest measures, they said.

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The United States is also imposing sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s two adult daughters, the wife and daughter of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and senior members of Russia’s Security Council, officials said. “Nothing less than major war crimes is happening,” Biden told labor leaders, referring to the recaptured Ukrainian city of Buca, where civilians were shot at close range. The story goes on under the ad “Responsible nations must unite to hold these perpetrators accountable,” he said. “And together with our allies and partners, we will continue to increase financial costs and intensify the pain for Putin.” 3:32 Russia-Ukraine conflict: US accuses Russian oligarch, announces other “enforcement actions” Russia-Ukraine conflict: US accuses Russian oligarch, announces other “enforcement actions” Russia, which says it launched a “special military operation” in Ukraine on February 24, denies targeting civilians, saying the images of the deaths were a “monstrous forgery” organized by the West. Wednesday’s “full foreclosure sanctions” will freeze the assets of the two major banks “touching the US financial system,” the White House said in a statement. Britain also froze Sberbank assets and said it would ban imports of Russian coal until the end of this year in the latest round of sanctions coordinated with the United States and other Western allies to “starve Putin’s war machine.” 2:10 How far are world leaders willing to go to punish Russia? How far are world leaders willing to go to punish Russia? Sberbank and Alfabank said the new sanctions would not have a significant impact on their operations. The story goes on under the ad The White House also said Biden was signing an executive order banning “new investment in Russia by Americans wherever they are, which would further isolate Russia from the world economy.” That would include a ban on venture capital and mergers, officials said. Trending Stories

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			“SOVIET STYLE STANDARDS”

By closing down Russia’s largest banks, the United States is “dramatically escalating” the economic shock in Russia, a senior government official told reporters. “The reality is that the country is falling into economic, financial and technological isolation,” the official said. “And at this rate, it will return to Soviet living standards from the 1980s.” The head of the White House Economic Council, Brian Dees, said that the Russian economy is estimated to shrink by 10 to 15 percent in 2022 and that inflation in Russia is estimated at 200 percent. The story goes on under the ad

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Daniel Fried, a former State Department coordinator for the Obama administration’s sanctions policy, said the latest package “basically makes Sberbank untouchable.” But he added: “What is missing is what we will do about oil and gas,” Russia’s most lucrative exports. In the latest in a series of law enforcement actions against Russia, the US Department of Justice on Wednesday accused Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev of violating sanctions imposed on Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine, saying it had provided funding to Russians who autonomy in the Crimea. 2:13 AG Garland says US is helping to gather evidence of alleged war crimes in Ukraine AG Garland says US is helping to gather evidence of alleged war crimes in Ukraine Attorney General Merrick Garland said authorities had also cut off a type of global malware known as a “botnet” controlled by a Russian military intelligence service. The story goes on under the ad

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In addition, Garland announced that the department is working with prosecutors in Europe to begin gathering evidence of possible war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine. Seeking to further increase pressure on Putin, the United States is also imposing full sanctions on what the White House called “critical major Russian state-owned enterprises” that it said would harm the Kremlin’s ability to fund its war effort. Those entities included United Aircraft and United Shipbuilding, Deese said. Among those sanctioned Wednesday were Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s former president and former prime minister and one of Putin’s closest allies. Among them were Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Misustin and Justice Minister Konstantin Chuichenko. 2:13 AG Garland says US is helping to gather evidence of alleged war crimes in Ukraine AG Garland says US is helping to gather evidence of alleged war crimes in Ukraine Medvedev said earlier Wednesday in a post on the social network Telegram that Moscow would fight attempts to seize Russian property abroad before courts around the world. The story goes on under the ad The US government has taken action amid growing accusations of war crimes from Russia to Ukraine. The grim images of Bouha include a mass grave and corpses of people shot at close range, prompting calls for tougher action against Moscow and an international inquiry. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Tuesday that the killings were part of a deliberate Russian campaign to commit atrocities. Neither Blinken nor Russia provided evidence to support the allegations. (Report by Matt Spetalnick, Alex Alper, Nandita Bose; additional citations by Sarah N. Lynch, Doina Chiacu and David Shepardson; edited by Heather Timmons, Howard Goller, Mark Porter and Jonathan Oatis)