Mocked as 'rubble' and fighting sanctions, Russian ruble comes roaring back

The rapid ruble recovery gives Putin a major victory back in Russia, where many people fixate on the currency's ups and downs

In the days after the Ukraine war began, the ruble’s collapse was a potent symbol of Russia’s newfound financial isolation.

International sanctions on Vladimir Putin’s regime sank it to a record low of 121.5 rubles per dollar, triggering memories of the battering it took during the 1998 Russian financial crisis.

Things looked dire enough that U.S. President Joe Biden said the ruble had been reduced to “rubble.”

Now, though, it sure hasn’t. The ruble has surged all the way back to where it was before Putin invaded Ukraine, closing at 79.7 in Moscow on Wednesday.

What’s become clear is that despite an incredibly wide-ranging