Russia's Promsvyazbank buys more branches in annexed Ukraine

- Russia's state-owned Promsvyazbank said on Friday that it had bought two credit institutions in Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions, doubling its chain of branches in Ukrainian territory Russia moved to annex last year.

Promsvyazbank (PSB), one of Russia's 13 "systemically important credit institutions", offers a wide range of services but has focused on state employees and the defence sector since it was bailed out by the central bank in 2017.

It had already been targeted with Western sanctions last year over Russia's actions in Ukraine.