As the Russia-Ukraine crisis intensifies, the fortunes of many wealthy Russians have plummeted this year with the super-rich losing $32 billion since the beginning of January, Bloomberg reported.

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The US, UK and Germany have slapped targeted economic sanctions on Russian individuals and companies after President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into eastern Ukraine

Also read: Russia-Ukraine Crisis: Here’s the full list of Britain’s Russia sanctions

The US on February 22 announced sanctions targeting Russia’s sale of sovereign debt abroad, while the UK has targeted five Russian banks Rossiya, IS Bank, General Bank, Promsvyazbank and the Black Sea Bank and three high net worth individuals, Gennady Timchenko, Boris Rotenberg and Igor Rotenberg. Germany had halted an energy project with Russia.

Also read: Russia-Ukraine Crisis: Idea behind stiff sanctions is to bring Moscow to bargaining table, says former envoy PS Raghavan

Among the top Russian billionaires who have seen their fortunes deplete, Gennady Timchenko leads the list, with a third of his wealth disappearing this year, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index revealed.

The 69-year-old now has a fortune of about $16 billion, the majority of which comes from his stake in Russian gas producer Novatek. Apart from Novatek, Timchenko has investments in transport and infrastructure companies and is a major stakeholder in one of the banks sanctioned by UK -- the Rossiya Bank.

Another Novatek stakeholder Leonid Mikhelson saw his fortune tumble $6.2 billion this year.

Also read: Punishing Putin: How Joe Biden could cut Russia off from world tech

The net worth of Vagit Alekperov, Chairman of Russia's largest independent oil company Lukoil, dived about $3.5 billion since January as the energy company’s stock sunk 17 percent. Vagit Alekperov owns nearly a quarter of Lukoil.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson also announced sanctions on Boris Rotenberg and his nephew, Igor, who are co-owners of Russia’s largest construction company for gas pipelines and electrical power supply lines, StroyGazMontazh.

Also read: Russia-Ukraine tensions LIVE: Ukraine MPs vote to give nod for civilians to carry firearms; parliament asked to declare emergency

At present, 23 billionaires from Russia have a total net worth of $343 billion, which has come down from $375 billion at the end of 2021, Bloomberg reported.

Meanwhile, Russia’s move to recognise two separatist republics in Ukraine rattled the stock, bond and commodity markets around the world, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing 1.42 percent lower at 33,596.61 on February 22. The S&P 500 lost 1.01 percent to close at 4,304.76 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.23 percent to 13,381.52.

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(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)