Russian assets fell on Thursday after Washington imposed its toughest economic sanctions yet on Russian energy, financial and defence firms, also hitting the rouble and the country's sovereign dollar bonds, Reuters reported. The U.S. government imposed sanctions on Wednesday on some of the key players in the Russian economy over what Washington says is Moscow's reluctance to curb violence in Ukraine. The sanctions, which in effect close medium- and long-term dollar funding, were put on Russia's largest oil producer Rosneft, its No.2 gas producer Novatek, its third largest bank, Gazprombank, and state Vnesheconombank. The rouble-traded MICEX dropped 2.6 percent in early trading and was down 2.0 percent at 1,445.30 points at 0750 GMT; the dollar-traded RTS index was down 3.3 percent at 1,305.76 points. Shares in Rosneft paired losses to 5 percent after falling 6 percent within a minute of opening. Novatek fell 5 percent.
