Russia vows to ride out sanctions and ‘purge Ukraine of Nazis’

Kremlin says Russia can survive ‘emotional’ markets as stocks crash by 35%

The Kremlin has vowed it will ride out an “emotional” financial market reaction to the invasion of Ukraine and warned the world will find it “impossible” to shut Russia “behind an iron curtain”.

In a conference call with reporters, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov claimed that Russia’s assault on Ukraine would purge the country of “Nazis” – a baseless lie often repeated by the Kremlin, despite the fact that Ukraine’s president is Jewish – and would “neutralise” Kiev’s military potential.

“It’s simply impossible to cut off a country like Russia with an iron curtain,” he added. The Kremlin has said it has taken measures to protect against market volatility.

His comments come after Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine, which the Russian president claimed was to “defend people who have been victims of abuse and genocide from the Kiev regime”.

Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg condemned the attack as “unjustified and unprovoked”, adding: “This is a deliberate, cold-blooded and long-planned invasion.”

“We now have war in Europe of a scale and a type that we thought belonged to history”, he said.

Although western leaders have brought in initial sanctions against Russian finances, Putin has been working over the years to reduce Moscow’s vulnerability to US pressure.

The two banks sanctioned by the US, VEB and Promsvyazbank, are almost entirely domestically focused and funded. Moscow has also all but eliminated its stockpile of US treasury securities.

News of the Russian invasion caused the country’s stock market to crash dramatically on opening, as investors raced to pull their money.

The RTS index of large companies’ shares was down 35 per cent today and by 50 per cent this week.

The EU also promised to impose “massive” sanctions that will have severe consequences on Russia. In a statement the European Council said that they would meet today to “agree in principle on further restrictive measures that will impose massive and severe consequences on Russia for its action.”

Boris Johnson has promised to “hobble the Russian economy” with a massive package of sanctions. The UK prime minister said in a televised statement: “Diplomatically, politically, economically, and eventually, militarily, this hideous and barbaric venture of Vladimir Putin must end in failure.”

He promised to reduce the Putin regime to a “pariah status”.