U.S., allies to impose Russia sanctions following outrage over Bucha

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Wednesday is set to announce additional sanctions targeting Russian financial institutions, as well as Kremlin officials and their family members, three people familiar with the matter told NBC News.

The fresh sanctions package, taken in lockstep with European Union allies and the Group of 7 nations, will also ban new investment in Russia and state-owned enterprises, sources told NBC.

“These measures will degrade key instruments of Russian state power and pose an acute and immediate economic harm on Russia and hold accountable the Russian kleptocracy that funds and supports Putin’s war,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.

News of the additional measures follows rounds of coordinated sanctions that have vaulted Russia past Iran and North Korea as the world’s most-sanctioned country. The measures have damaged the Russian economy as Moscow pushes ahead with the brutal invasion of its neighbor.

The new sanctions come amid mounting global accusations of Russian war crimes in Ukraine. Over the weekend, Ukrainian officials claimed that hundreds of civilians were tortured and killed in Bucha by Russian troops.

Psaki said Russia’s actions in Bucha contributed to the decision to impose more sanctions.

“Unfortunately, the horrific photos we’ve seen from Bucha are not the first violation of war crimes or atrocities that we’ve seen take place on the ground. So in part, yes, but they have been in the works and part of our process of putting in place consequences,” she said.

“We are continuing to assess and make decisions about additional consequences and steps we can put in place,” she added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the aftermath in the suburban town near Kyiv, which he saw firsthand on Monday, as a “genocide.” He accused Russia of war crimes.

In a dramatic appearance at the United Nations on Tuesday, Zelenskyy called for a Nuremberg-style tribunal to investigate and prosecute Russian war crimes.

“The massacre in our city of Bucha is only one, unfortunately, only one of many examples of what the occupiers have been doing on our land for the past 41 days,” Zelenskyy said in a nearly 20-minute speech, adding “the world has yet to see” what Russia has done elsewhere in Ukraine.

The U.S. and European allies have previously accused Russia of war crimes in Ukraine, citing evidence that the country purposely targeted civilian sites. Russia has described its actions in Ukraine as a “special operation” and has denied that it attacks civilians.

Since Russia invaded its ex-Soviet neighbor on Feb. 24,