Russia’s war against Ukraine – all developments

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine and subsequent Western sanctions against banks People in Moscow and other Russian cities complained about the first problems with withdrawing cash. A man told the German Press Agency that after a long search in downtown Moscow he was only able to find a Sberbank machine on Saturday that dispensed 7,500 rubles (around 80 euros). A Rosbank machine in the luxury department store “Gum”, where dollars and euros can also be drawn, no longer issued foreign currencies, as the 41-year-old said.

Other Muscovites also reported such problems. A man from the Baltic Sea metropolis of St. Petersburg sent a photo of a Raiffeisen Bank machine, the screen of which read: “The ATM is temporarily shut down.” Another machine did not dispense the desired sum of 50,000 rubles (530 euros) – and instead displayed a recommendation to try withdrawing several smaller amounts again.

In response to Russia’s large-scale attack on the neighboring country, both the EU and the US Sanctions against the Russian financial sector imposed. Six Russian banks – including the country’s second largest institution, VTB Bank – were completely affected by the US punitive measures. This means that US citizens and companies are not allowed to do business with them, their assets in the US – or even their assets that come into contact with the US financial system – are frozen. In addition, the government bans all US institutions from maintaining accounts for the largest Russian financial institution, Sberbank.

On Friday then had several major Russian banks – including Sberbank and VTB Bank – the Russians in a joint statement assures that there will be no problems withdrawing cash.