Britain has imposed sanctions on five Russian banks and three wealthy individuals in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s order to move troops into Eastern Ukraine. Putin announced on Feb. 21 that Russia will regard two areas in Ukraine’s Donbas region as independent, and signed a decree authorising Russian troops to be sent into the area for so-called “peacekeeping operations.” Addressing the House of Commons on Feb. 22, Prime Minister Boris Johnson described Moscow’s move as a “renewed invasion” of Ukraine, and warned Putin is “establishing the pretext for a full-scale offensive.” He told MPs: “Now the UK and our allies will begin to impose the sanctions on Russia that we have already prepared using the new and unprecedented powers granted by this House to sanction Russian individuals and entities of strategic importance to the Kremlin.” Johnson said that immediate sanctions would be deployed against five Russian banks—Rossiya, IS Bank, …