Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has placed sanctions on five Russian state-owned banks operating in Ukraine.

Sberbank, VTB, BM Bank, Prominvestbank and VS Bank are blocked from transferring funds to their subsidiary or parent companies outside of Ukraine for the next year.



The sanctions are a reaction to Sberbank's decision to begin accepting documents issued from Ukraine's breakaway republics in Donetsk and Luhansk.



Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said that it had already informed U.S and EU officials of the measures.

