Rebel leaders brush off new US sanctions

The United States targeted eight Ukrainian separatists and a Russian bank with sanctions and announced more non-lethal aid for Ukraine on Thursday, after accusing Russian-backed rebels of breaking a European-brokered ceasefire.

Washington is ratcheting up the pressure on Moscow a day after it said Russia sent tanks and heavy military equipment into Ukraine, in breach of the Minsk accord agreed on February 12.

The sanctioned bank, the Moscow-registered Russian National Commercial Bank (RNCB), last year became the first Russian bank to open its doors in Crimea after the region’s annexation. Russia’s Interfax news agency, which treats Crimea as part of Russia, ranked it as Russia’s 142nd-largest bank by assets last year.

Russia’s biggest lender, stateowned Sberbank, gave RNCB its former network on the Black Sea peninsula after the annexation. The bank was sanctioned by the European Union last year.

RNCB said the sanctions ‘‘do not pose a threat to its current activities’’ and ‘‘at present, RNCB has no assets in the United States’’.

The aid to Ukraine included about 200 unarmed Humvees and 30 with armour, said a US defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity. It also included an undetermined number of unarmed Raven reconnaissance drones.

In addition to that equipment, which could begin to be delivered within weeks, the White House announced another US$75 million (NZ$104m) in assistance, including radios, unmanned aerial vehicles, counter-mortar radars, night vision devices, first aid kits, ambulances and other medical supplies.

Among the more prominent separatists blacklisted by Washington on Thursday is Roman Lyagin, who chairs an election commission in rebel territory. The US Treasury has accused him of preventing voting in Ukraine’s May presidential election.

Lyagin said he was not a fighter and was playing a peaceful role in separatist activities.

‘‘It’s the opposite. I do my best to stop the bloodshed,’’ he said from the separatist-held eastern Ukraine city of Donetsk.

Rebel leader Aleksander Khodakovsky appeared dismissive of the US sanctions against him. He said he had no bank accounts, was already sanctioned by the EU, and had nowhere to go beyond Russia and rebel-held areas.

‘‘Why should I be worried?’’ he asked.

Khodakovsky, a defector from the Ukrainian state security service who is now secretary of the Security Council of the so-called government of the Donetsk People’s Republic, was placed on the EU’s sanctions list in July. ‘‘Now with the Americans, I have the full set,’’ he said.

A US senior administration official said the aid was ‘‘part of our ongoing efforts to bolster Ukraine’s defence and internal security operations and resist further aggression’’.

The announcement follows accusations by Ukraine and Western governments that Russia is continuing to send troops and weapons to support separatists in eastern Ukraine despite the Minsk ceasefire deal, a charge the Kremlin has denied.

‘‘If Russia continues to support destabilising activity in Ukraine and violate the Minsk agreements and implementation plan, the already substantial costs it faces will continue to rise,’’ said Adam Szubin, the US Treasury Department’s acting undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.