For the Russian banking sector, these are the most nervous times since the global financial crisis six years ago. Half a dozen of the biggest state-connected banks -- accounting for more than half of Russian banking assets -- have in effect been cut off from western financing by EU and US sanctions imposed over Moscow's aggression in Ukraine.
Russia's War Against Ukraine
Financial Times: Sanctions noose begins to tighten on sanguine Russia
People walk past Sberbank's headquarters in Moscow on Sept. 19, 2012.
