Against the background of the aggravation of the situation on the demarcation line between Ukraine and the unrecognized Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), the ruble exchange rate collapsed against major currencies. As of 11:45 a.m., the dollar rose to 76.38 rubles (plus 1.49 percent since the beginning of the day), the euro – to 86.88 rubles (plus 1.41 percent), according to data Moscow Exchange.
Along with the ruble, the main Russian stock indices are also falling. The Moscow Exchange Index has lost 2.6 percent since the beginning of the day, and the RTS index – 3.95 percent. The fall leaders among blue chips are Yandex (minus 5.5 percent, to 3,822 rubles), Tinkoff (minus 5.23 percent, to 5,201.5 rubles) and Sberbank (minus 4.42 percent, to 265.5 rubles).
On Tuesday, February 15, amid reports of the withdrawal of Russian troops from the border zone with Ukraine, the ruble and the Russian stock market began to grow steadily. However, the very next day, after Ukraine and Western countries stated that they had not yet noticed a decrease in the number of the Russian group, the growth stopped.
February 16 was considered a possible date for the start of the aggression. She, citing sources in the American leadership, was named over the weekend by Politico. American officials did not address a specific date, but indicated that an attack was possible any day.
On the morning of Thursday, February 17, the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of the Ceasefire Regime (JCCC) stated that the Ukrainian military from the village of Leninskoye and from Maiorsk fired mortars at the outskirts of the city of Gorlovka, which is located near the demarcation line. The People’s Militia of the DPR claims that they returned fire.
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