Shocking new data shows that EU banks still operating in Russia despite sanctions are helping fund Putin’s war in Ukraine to the tune of almost £748m (€800m).
Several major European banks are currently still trading in Russia, providing the Kremlin tyrant with much needed financial funds.
These banks include Raiffeisen Bank International, UniCredit, ING, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, Intesa Sanpaolo and OTP.
The Western financial institutions generated a massive three billion euro profit for the year 2023, according to an investigation by the Financial Times.
These huge profits were three times more than those in 2021 prior to Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine.
The taxes from the profits raised €800 million for the Kremlin, helping Putin to fund his war and maintain financial stability across the country despite Western sanctions.
The European lenders have actually directly benefited from Western sanctions on Russian banks, since the punitive measures have deprived their rivals from accessing international payment systems.
As a result many Russian have turned to the EU banks to conduct their financial transactions.
€800m would allow the Kremlin to purchase a whopping 875 Kalibr cruise missiles.
The lethal rockets cost around €914,000 to manufacture and have been used extensively by Putin’s army in Ukraine.
The Kalibr is a sea-launched strategic cruise missile with a maximum range of 2,600 kilometres (1,616 miles), which covers all of Ukraine.
The deadly rocket flies at 0.8 – 0.9 Mach ( roughly 1,000 kilometres-per-hour/ 621 miles-per-hour), which is below the speed of sound.
However, during the approach to the target it accelerates to the supersonic speed of 2.5 – 2.9 Mach.
This makes not much harder for its timely detection and interception by air defence systems.
Another unique characteristic of the Kalibr is the low altitude at which it flies through the air.
It approaches a ground target at 50-150 meters and a sea target at under 50 meters, which again makes it very difficult to shoot down.
