from
https://fortune.com/2023/08/14/vladimir-putin-russia-ruble-dollar-ukraine-war/

Russian ruble is now worth less than a penny, infuriating Vladimir
Putin’s inner circle: ‘They’re laughing at us’
BYCHRISTIAAN HETZNER
August 14, 2023 at 7:03 AM PDT
Russia's president Vladimir Putin
Could Russian President Vladimir Putin be describing the value of his
ruble in this photo dated July 29? The Russian currency is worth a tiny
fraction of the U.S. dollar now.
CONTRIBUTOR—GETTY IMAGES
Vladimir Putin’s luck may be running out now that the ruble plunged
below one cent, the lowest level against the U.S. dollar since the early
days of his war in Ukraine.

The Russian president, who briefly faced down a coup attempt in June,
could long point to the resilience of his currency in the face of
sanctions as a propaganda victory that proved just how impotent Western
economic reprisals were.

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More than 500 days since his army invaded Ukraine, it looks as if
Moscow’s highly respected central bank governor can no longer perform
miracles for her boss.

The ruble that Elvira Nabiullina manages crashed through the
psychological support of 100 to the U.S. dollar and on Monday is now
worth less than a penny, the first time since March 23 of last year.

“They’re laughing at us,” scathed Vladimir Solovyov, Russia’s most
well-known state TV personality and a chief Putin ally, already last week.

The war hawk demanded Nabiullina explain herself to the population now
that currency has lost roughly a quarter of its value against the dollar
since the start of this year.

On Sunday, images were shared online of a small symbolic protest mounted
in western Siberia: A building’s chyron kept repeating the message that
“Putin is a dickhead and a thief,” calling the ruble’s exchange rate
“crazy.”

Her institution, meanwhile, has countered by arguing a softer ruble does
not present risks to the country’s financial stability. Nonetheless,
Russia’s central bank decided to freeze purchases of foreign currency on
the domestic market through the remainder of this year to restore faith
in the sliding ruble.

Russia’s currency strength handed Putin a PR victory
Following a brief collapse in the initial aftermath of last year’s Feb.
24 invasion, which saw Russia’s fiat tender plunge to a record low of
120 to the dollar, the ruble rebounded to trade at one point at highs
not seen since 2015, around 50 to the dollar.

This gave the Kremlin an important PR victory by suggesting Russia’s
economy was strong enough to withstand anything the West threw at it.

This in turn prompted soul-searching among Ukraine’s Western backers
while bolstering critics alarmed more at the cost of soaring food and
energy prices than at Russia’s empire-building.

“It’s slightly more valuable than it was on the day that Russia invaded
Ukraine. The economic situation in the United States by contrast is
deteriorating fast,” then Fox News host Tucker Carlson, a chief critic
of U.S. aid to Kyiv, said last April.

Nabiullina was celebrated for cleverly steering her financial system
through the worst of the turmoil by placing a range of capital controls
that quickly stabilized the currency and prevented mass outflows.

“They were a quick fix for the ruble in 2022, but are counterproductive
in the long run,” wrote Janis Kluge, senior associate at the German
Institute for International and Security Affairs, last week.

The fresh signs of economic weakness come at an important juncture in
the war. The Russian army is attempting to defend large swaths of
territory seized in the early months of the invasion against a Kyiv
counteroffensive boasting modern Western military equipment.

Any material losses on the battlefield could further undermine Putin’s
authority, already weakened following the challenge made by Wagner
mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin in June.

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On Tue, 15 Aug 2023 11:24:06 -0700, a425couple <a425couple@hotmail.com>
wrote:

>Russian ruble is now worth less than a penny, infuriating Vladimir
>Putin’s inner circle: ‘They’re laughing at us’

The ruble has been less the 1¢ for months.