WASHINGTON, March 20 (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday expanded its sanctions on Russians in response to the annexation of Crimea to include 20 more people, some of whom are close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, a senior Obama administration official said.
It also imposed sanctions on the Russian bank Bank Rossiya, which has $10 billion in assets, the official said. The bank, which is used by many senior Russian government officials, will be "frozen out of the dollar," the official said.
Obama signed an executive order giving the U.S. government wider authority to take action against the Russian financial services sector, energy, mining, engineering and defense sectors, the official said. (Reporting by Steve Holland and David Storey; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
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