Russia's third largest bank, Gazprombank and its six foreign subsidiaries were hit with U.S. sanctions on Thursday - in a move intended to curtail Russia's ability to evade the thousands of sanctions imposed on the nation since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the sanctions targeting Russia's largest remaining non-sanctioned bank would further diminish Russia's military effort and "will make it harder for the Kremlin to evade U.S. sanctions and fund and equip its military."
In addition, more than 50 internationally connected Russian banks, 40 Russian securities registrars, and 15 Russian finance officials were hit with sanctions.
The move comes after President Joe Biden this weekend authorized Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied missiles to strike deeper inside Russia , easing limitations on the longer range weapons as Russia deploys thousands of North Korean troops to reinforce its war.
In addition, on Wednesday the Pentagon announced that it will send Ukraine at least 275 million in new weapons, including an undisclosed number of antipersonnel land mines , as the Biden administration rushes to do as much as it can to help Kyiv fight back against Russia before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
