- The ruble weakened against the dollar on Wednesday after Putin hinted that his war on Ukraine escalated.
- The Russian fiat fell as low as 62.45 in early trade, before recovering lost ground.
- Most global currencies fell against the dollar as the U.S. central bank was set to announce more rate hikes.
The ruble fell on Wednesday after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced plans to send an additional 300,000 troops and threatened to use nuclear weapons.
Russia’s escalation of the war against Ukraine comes after Putin’s forces were routed in eastern Ukraine earlier this month, giving up swathes of territory within days.
In early trading on Wednesday, the Russian currency fell to 62.45 against the dollar at one point, a decrease of about 3%, but then recovered lost ground, regaining 60.736, a decrease of 0.56%.
Most global currencies fell against the U.S. dollar as the Federal Reserve was set to announce its latest benchmark rate hike. The euro slipped and the dollar index rose 0.49% on Wednesday.
Putin said in a televised speech that the military was mobilizing 300,000 reservists, the first such mobilization in Russia since World War II.
He also hinted at Russia’s deployment of nuclear weapons in Ukraine as the Kremlin continues to suffer huge military losses, saying “Russia also has many types of weapons of destruction, some of which are more modern than those of the Russian state. NATO.”
The ruble has fluctuated wildly since Russia invaded Ukraine. It slumped to less than a cent early in the war, then rebounded sharply after Russia’s central bank sharply tightened interest rates and imposed strict capital controls to become the best-performing currency against the dollar.
