West unleashes SWIFT bans, more crushing penalties on Russia

By ZEKE MILLER, RAF CASERT, ELLEN KNICKMEYER and KEN SWEET
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and its European allies have agreed to levy the most potentially crippling sanctions yet on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. The new measures announced Saturday include restrictions on Russia’s central bank, and cutting some banks off from the SWIFT global financial system. Western officials say the central bank measures will likely send Russia’s ruble into free fall. And analysts predict spiraling inflation and bank runs as a result. The new measure, pressed as Russian forces move on Ukraine’s capital, could spread the pain of Western sanctions to ordinary Russians far more than previous ones.