UK to impose sanctions on Russian banks and individuals

Britain will impose sanctions on five Russian banks and three "very high-net worth individuals" following the deployment of troops to two Moscow-backed regions of Ukraine, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Tuesday.

Britain will use new powers approved by parliament to introduce pre-prepared sanctions on "Russian individuals and entities of strategic importance to the Kremlin", Johnson told parliament.

The sanctions will target Rossiya bank, IS bank, General bank, Promsvyazbank and Black Sea bank.

Businessmen Gennady Timchenko, Boris Rotenberg and Igor Rotenberg will have any assets they hold in the UK frozen and will be banned from visiting the country, said Johnson.

"This is the first tranche, the first barrage, of what we are prepared to do, and we hold further sanctions at readiness to be deployed, alongside the United States and the European Union," he added.