U.S. to unveil actions targeting criminal Russian activity -statement

The U.S. Department of Justice will on Wednesday outline new enforcement actions "to disrupt and prosecute criminal Russian activity," it said in a statement. Top Justice officials, including Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray, will discuss the action at 10 a.m.

The U.S. Department of Justice will on Wednesday outline new enforcement actions "to disrupt and prosecute criminal Russian activity," it said in a statement.

Top Justice officials, including Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray, will discuss the action at 10 a.m. (1400 GMT), the department said. The department did not elaborate.

The announcement coincides with new sanctions to be announced on Wednesday by the United States and its allies on Russian banks and officials. They also plan a ban on new investment in Russia, the White House said, after officials in Washington and Kyiv accused Moscow of committing war crimes in the Ukrainian town of Bucha. The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Western allegations Russian forces committed war crimes by executing civilians in Bucha were a "monstrous forgery" aimed at denigrating the Russian army.

Russia casts the evidence of civilian executions in Bucha as a cynical ploy by Ukraine and its Western backers, who Moscow says are gripped by discriminatory anti-Russian paranoia.