WASHINGTON, February 24. /TASS/. The United States is imposing sanctions on Russia’s two largest financial institutions, Sberbank and VTB, the Department of Treasury said in a statement on Thursday.

"Treasury is taking unprecedented action against Russia’s two largest financial institutions, Public Joint Stock Company Sberbank of Russia (Sberbank)and VTB Bank Public Joint Stock Company (VTB Bank), drastically altering their fundamental ability to operate," the document says.

The US also announced sanctions against senior executives at Sberbank and VTB. Among those included in the blacklist is First Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank Alexander Vedyakhin, two high-ranking VTB Bank executives Andrey Puchkov and Yury Soloviev and Soloviev’s wife, Galina Ulyutina.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has also imposed blocking sanctions on three additional major Russian banks - Otkritie, Novikom, and Sovcom. "These three financial institutions play significant roles in the Russian economy, holding combined assets worth $80 billion. These designations further restrict the Russian financial services sector and greatly diminish the ability of other critical Russian economic sectors from accessing global markets, attracting investment, and utilizing the U.S. dollar.," the statement says.