LONDON, February 22. /TASS/. The United Kingdom imposed sanctions on five Russian banks and three persons, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday in the Parliament.

"Today, the UK is sanctioning the following four five Russian banks: Rossiya, IS Bank, General Bank, Promsvyazbank and the Black Sea Bank. And we are sanctioning three very high net worth individuals: Gennady Timchenko, Boris Rotenberg, and Igor Rotenberg," Johnson said.

"Any assets they hold in the UK will be frozen, the individuals concerned will be banned from travelling here, and we will prohibit all UK individuals and entities from having any dealings with them," he added.

"This is the first tranche, the first barrage, of what we are prepared to do: we will hold further sanctions at readiness, to be deployed alongside the United States and the European Union if the situation escalates still further," the UK’s Prime Minister said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced recognition of independence of Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics on February 21.