Biden Declares Russia's Action in Ukraine as Invasion

The US President Joe Biden declared Russian actions in Ukraine as invasion, asserting that the "swift and severe" sanctions will be released soon, international media reports highlighted.

Hours after Vladimir Putin’s announcement of supporting the independence of the newly independent Ukraine: Donbas, Donestk and Luhansk, Russian troops arrived in Eastern Ukraine.

A White House official said: "The invasion has begun," adding, "So our sanctions response has begun."

Early on Tuesday, the UK government imposed harsh penalties on five Russian banks and three super-rich oligarchs.

This is the “first tranche” of actions, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the House of Commons, in response to Russian forces advancing into two rebel regions of Ukraine.

The sanctions include billionaires Gennady Timchenko, Boris Rotenberg, and Igor Rotenberg, as well as Rossiya, IS Bank, General Bank, Promsvyazbank, and the Black Sea Bank. For years, all three have been listed on the US sanctions list as Putin associates.

"Any assets they have in the UK will be frozen, the inpiduals involved will be barred from entering the country, and we will prohibit all UK people and businesses from doing business with them," Johnson said in Parliament.

"This is the first tranche, the first barrage, of what we are prepared to do: we will retain additional sanctions in reserve, ready to deploy alongside the US and the EU if the situation worsens…We should brace ourselves for a long crisis."